


Project Inferno

by LoopZLoop



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQIA+
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoopZLoop/pseuds/LoopZLoop
Summary: Project Inferno is a story about 3 kids, siblings. Not by blood or even by name, but certainly by bond. They are apprentices of their master, meudra, a mysterious woman who adopted them all at different ages.They are not blacksmiths or tanners or hunters or anything of the sort. They are necromancers, taught in secret on a continent that has outlawed the taboo death magic for nearly 2 millennia. Although they have formed a happy (If tense) family dynamic. That peaceful day-to-day life shall be tossed to the wind with the tribulation that comes just past the threshold of graduation.
Kudos: 2





	1. Nobody's There

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story heavily focuses on the use and philosophy of necromancy. The concept of death will be a reoccurring theme through the narrative. Please use your best discretion when deciding if this story is right for you.

**Act I | Scene I**

Candles can’t glow bright enough to comfort someone. Their meager, flickering flames aid in deskwork or a night trip to the water close but there is no life in them. They gave no sense of kindness in the ritual chamber that day. Pitch darkness was broken by a single match and eight more lights followed after. Nine candles were huddled in the core of this chamber. They had a combined green haze that barely illuminated a face-sized tablet of stone in the very center of the room. The dry slate walls of the chamber stood just within the light’s influence. A young girl named Invex knelt over the tablet and carried herself with tightened shoulders steeped in uncertainty. A moment passed before her wordless hesitation folded. She arranged the already lit candles around the slab's edge in a circular shape. Blue wax from the candles rolled down the edges of the slab and onto slits pre-carved into the tablet. The runny wax seemed drawn into the crevices by an uncanny force. Invex plucked her teacher's dagger from the edge of the room. She wielded the straight steel blade high above the head. In a single motion, the dagger swings down and hilts into the solid rock. The grip glows a soft amber hue as she dragged the blade across the tablet in a circle encased by the candles. She still needed to pull with serious effort but the dagger's foreign enchantment let her cut through solid rock in the precise shape required for the ritual.

The sound of cutting stone crawled through the chambers. Invex continued her monotonous preparations. Moments slip into minutes and before long nearly an hour has passed and a deep spiral was carved from the edge of the circle to the very center. Melted wax from the long-burning candles seeped into Invex's carved pattern in a shallow, even layer of cooled material. All 9 lights hung much closer to the ground now. The walls of the small chamber slowly fell back into shadow and Invex was encroached by the vast feeling of nothing. She pulled the dagger from the slab and barely-liquid flicks of wax flew from its edge onto the ceiling behind her. Its enchanted glow died off as Invex brought the ceremonial weapon to her side and let the blade roll before it scattered against the wall. The only evidence it ever existed is a reflective glimmer in the corner.

Invex looked back to the reinforced wooden door behind them and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "Dinner should be ready before long. I should ask my questions, erase the evidence, and leave." She licked the bottom of her thumb and quickly dabbed it down on top of the nearest candle to put it out.

“I snuff the light to pay the price. This, the cost of knowledge.”

At first, nobody responded.

Invex swallowed the dried spit in her throat and continues. “Why are the Bakers taking so long to return?”

Seconds passed before _Nobody_ responded. “They had to stop in a nearby village for cart repairs. The Bakers are safe.”

It didn’t have a voice. Its words left an impression in her mind, not unlike a memory. Invex's posture relaxed in relief. The spell worked and her friend was safe. She fixed her pose and looked down at the eight blips of flame still living. With another lick of her thumb she put out two candles this time. Invex took a deep breath while an anxious knot grew from the inside. “The toll grows and so do I. This, the cost of knowledge.” 

After another pause Invex spoke once more“Is my training as an apprentice coming to an end?”

Nobody told her. “Soon, very soon. You will be shouldered with your first and last real assignment.”

This confirmation spurred her on to continue. Both answers brought closure and that was enough to make Invex eliminate three more lights. All that remained was an even triangle of green glowing dots. She couldn’t see the dagger anymore. “I steadily approach the point of no return and seek further. This, the cost of knowledge.”

The room felt colder as the hot air from the candles coalesced at the ceiling. Even with her eager initiation Invex struggles to ask the question. “Where was Master Meudra born?” 

The silence drew on and grew uncomfortable as Invex started to wonder if she had messed up the spell. Just before she could think to abort the ritual, Nobody made itself known again. “...Nowhere. There is no knowing what the answer is.”

Invex blinked and waited for the actual answer, but moments gave way to just more nothing. “That’s.. That’s it!? I go through a ritual banned by _everyone_ and I get nothing-!?”

Invex’s frustration was snuffed out as something dropped out of her periphery.

A candle went out and the last two were moments from the same fate.

That realization kicked her to urgently rip the leather tarp from her oil lantern and set it on top of the slab. She fumbled for the matches before giving out a rushed incantation.

“Today I step back from the edge and revoke the urge to know more. This, the sacrifice of knowledge.”

She turned on the lantern just as those last words slip away. The light was warm and inviting and above all else, it was a reminder that she was alive. This new aura lit up the chamber to show that the room was still here with nobody else inside. Invex doubled over as her stress could finally be felt in full. “Augh! That.. Why did I do that? I should’ve listened to the Master. ”

She set the lantern down and rested her arms against the clammy ground. "I don't want to eat anymore. I’m going to crawl into bed before-”

“-DINNER!! The master’s food is waiting, and I can’t eat before you and the other little freaks.”

A scratchy, intense voice betrayed the arrival of Meudra’s spirit bond and general household nuisance. He took a form that only made sense for the incorporeal. A multicolored cloud of pure energy made up his ball-like torso. Every detail past this seemed almost drawn on. A long, toothy sneer somehow sat on the center of his cloudy body with 2 purple circles above for eyes. Disembodied hands and shoes appeared beside and below him. 2 short, triangular horns poked out from his head.

Annrey, the wisp, held the door open impatiently as Invex was shocked into standing. She turned around to look down at his 3-foot stature. “You yell any louder and I’ll be the world’s first deaf necromancer. I'll need a few moments for a trip to the water closet. I think I’m going to be sick.” 

Annrey felt a smirk come on as he leaned in to snoop on what Invex did but he stopped when the creaking door gave him away. “Eh… whatever. Waste too much time and I’m eating your meal.”

He quickly gave up the opportunity and closed the door shut. Invex muttered as the scampering footsteps faded into the background. “What a turdish excuse for a spirit.”

She looked back to the ritual slab and the floor surrounding it still coated in wax. Before she can make the begrudging decision to clean up her mess a mighty growl comes from her gut. Her shoulders buckle as hunger finally hit her.

“...ok, maybe nothing can ruin my appetite. Dinner first, then ritual-clean up.” Invex reasoned and left for the dining hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoopZLoop  
> Tumblr: https://loopzloop.tumblr.com/
> 
> Don't forget to leave a Kudos or a Comment if you enjoyed it.


	2. A Family Dinner

**Act I | Scene II**

Invex slipped out the door, closed it behind her, made her way out of the catacomb-like basement, and up two sets of stairs to the dining room where the smell of roasted lamb hung heavy in the air like a delicious miasma. Invex’s normally anxious expression turned to anticipation as she stepped through the threshold and saw the long, rectangular table in the middle of the room. 4 sturdy wooden seats sat available on either side of the table, with the Master’s lavish, blue-cushioned chair at the end. By the sound of utensils clanking against a wooden plate, Invex already knew she was not the first to arrive. 

A wide-shouldered teen sat in one of the chairs closest to the Master’s wooden throne. His short, spiky black hair -which he was clearly taking great care in- was shaped by an undercut on either side. His smile to Invex accentuated his big, round nose and inviting green eyes as he gestured to the seat beside him, cheeks puffed with full bites of pulled lamb. The copper undertones in his light, brown skin shown strongly in the haze of the stove fire.

Invex made her way around the table and sat down. She joked with a chuckle. “If there’s one thing you’re never late for, Eduardo, it’s mealtime.”

Eduardo started with a roll of his eyes.”Right, like you have any room to talk, voidgullet.”

That quip earned him an elbow to the stomach before playful laughter broke their teasing. Invex poured an avalanche of fruit salad onto her plate straight from the bowl before moving on to the serving platter where that savory scent sat fat. A plate-load of lamb later and Invex had her packed dinner laid out before her. She ate it at a quick pace. Her pale skin bordered on ill, although that didn’t stop her as she scarfed down the lovingly-prepared meal. Her red, faded curls were kept out of her face by a black hairband that helped give her some control over the hair's volume. Brown eyes bore down on her meal. By the time the last student arrived she had already been through a third of her salad and nearly half of her lamb serving was devoured.  
  


“Leave some for the rest of us, pig.”

Reneta’s voice cut the enthusiasm in the room as she sat down across from Eduardo. She brushed her skirt so it would not be caught as she scooted her chair forward. Ed made a disconcerted furrow of his brows and spoke up before Invex could swallow. “You know Mom always makes enough for everyone, Invex included.” 

The bickering that would have ensued fell short as his statement caused Invex to choke on the half-swallowed bite of papaya. She finally forced it down and turned her shoulders to face Eduardo. “Ed, you know she hates being called that. I thought we agreed to _stop_ doing that. Last time she took your covers for an entire month. In the winter cycle. I’m not sharing mine with you if it happens again."

Eduardo sunk in his shoulders and idly stabbed at his salad to give himself something else to look at while his cheeks burned. "Well, it’s basically what she is. She feeds us, houses us, teaches us n’ everything.”

He muttered while poking a bit of lettuce. Reneta spoke up with a grin as she served herself. “-Then the least we can do is respect Master Meudra’s wishes. It’s almost time for the autumn year, you wouldn’t want to lose a whole bed this time, would you?”

Reneta snickered and, against Invex's better judgment, she did too. 

Reneta hands, umber brown in tone, neatly cut up and picked apart at the lamb on her plate as she ate. Her black voluminous dreads ran down her the length of her head and rested on her shoulders. The bare skin that showed on her arms were highlighted by the thick, angular silver lines that reached down either arm and branched out like a tree. Two snake braids hung on either side of her forehead and framed her face like a portrait. Her black eyes were separated by a thin silver ring where her pupil and iris would show if they were a different color. They shot to the entrance as the soft click of shoes announced the Master’s arrival. Reneta quickly wiped her face and fixed her posture to be even more refined, earning her a side-eye from her pseudo-sister. She muttered under her breath. "Mother's girl." 

Master Meudra rounded the corner. In entered a visage steeped in mystery and looming unease. Although that’s simply how she's always appeared and everyone in the village was pretty much used to it by now. She stood tall over all of them, just cresting a handful of inches past 6 feet. Her straight brown hair fell all the way to her waist and the age of her locks was shown by several full streaks of gray that hinted at an unnatural age by their uniform growth. Her face was hidden with an oval clay mask affixed by leather straps. The surface was painted with varying hues of yellow, red, and green. From the edges of her face that remained unconcealed one could tell her olive skin was decorated with several distinct and symmetrical wrinkles- another sign of extended life. Her flowing black gown hid her other features well.

Everyone gave the customary bow of their heads as the Master pulled her chair back and slowly settled into her seat. “You’ve all already started with plenty of food to spare, perfect.”

She spoke softly but her words still carried through the room as clearly as her student's voices did. “Although.. I see Annery’s yet to arrive. I suppose he doesn’t _need_ to eat, but it’s not like him to miss out on anything involving fruit. Has anyone seen him?”  
  
Invex hesitates to answer, but when neither Ed nor Reneta speaks, she relents and raises her hand halfway. “He caught me at the end of my independent study period to tell me dinner was ready, but I haven’t-”

Life plays in a repeated cycle and Annery’s shrill tone halted the conversation. “-I’M HERE! SAVE A BOWL FOR ME GLUTTON!”

The voice grated on them all, but Reneta and Invex are the only ones to visibly grimace in annoyance. A few seconds later and the hard tap-tap-tap of his shoes preluded his speedy entrance. He barely avoided crashing into the last chair before he scampered up the side and stood on its base to be on-par with everyone’s height. He forgoes the main course entirely and loads his bowl with almost as much salad as Invex did, Reneta made no note of disapproval but did nudge her plate out of the salad-splash zone that existed around Annery’s ravage devouring.

Meudra gave a chuckle before she gradually filled her plate. Although no one ever saw the Master eat, in the moments no one perceived bites of her meal were taken and her serving grew ever smaller. “I knew I could count on your cravings, Ann.” She commented.

They all enjoyed their meal in relative silence apart from the tableside manners, exchanges between the students, and the loud chomping from Annery. Just a few minutes into this calm Meudra’s voice cut through again and everyone listened. “I’m curious- what did you all do with your study day?” She asked in a tone that hinted at a smile.

Reneta spoke up first with an excited trill. “I made a breakthrough in my spirit bond ritual! Won’t be long before I can perform it, Grand willing.” She stated with a bright smile to Meudra.

The Master responded with a clasp of her hands as she straightened her posture. “Fantastic! Most mystics and necromancers can’t perform that ritual until they’ve practiced for 2 decades at least, yet here you are preparing for it before your first. I can’t wait to see what you bond with.”

Reneta basked in the praise and sat content and happy for the rest of the meal. Eduardo took the lull in the conversation and quipped. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t eat as much as Annery, huh?”

Meudra didn’t laugh and under her presence, no one else did either. Ed cleared his throat with a cough, but the dead air didn’t hang for long as the owl-like slits of Meudra’s mask turned to him. “What about you, Eduardo? Surely you didn’t spend all day coming up with that one."

Face flush once more he sighed and shook his head. “No, I actually spent most of the day tending to the garden out back and studying which flower petals made for better ritual dye. Sorrow Daisies make a very vibrant blue while still holding a lot of potent energy for spells.”

His explanation seemed to calm him, doubly so when Meudra started her response with an approving nod. “Very practical. Poor preparation leads to a life cut short. Just.. make sure your aspirations grow past the confines greenhouse.” She tacked on.

Her head tilted just enough to indicate it was Invex’s turn. Just as she started to panic inside Invex remembered she had thought out her lie ahead of time. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone interjected again.  
  
“OH! I know Master! I saw her, I saw Invex!!”

Annery shot up with a sharp smile that belayed dangerous intent. Invex’s gut dropped and the moisture in the room suddenly felt very cold. He snitched and in his excitement, he swayed back and forth in his chair.“She was doing a ritual with the Grand Spirit-”

Instinct drove action as Invex’s foot swung under the table and into the leg of the chair Annery stood on. 

“-WAAH!”

He flailed his disconnected hands as the chair tipped over and fell on it’s back with the thwack of wood on wood. Meudra gave a long-suffering exhale as her hand held to mask in impatience. Her voice rose with each word of admonishment. “How many times have I told you not to teeter in the chair like a child?”

Annery got up from his spill on the floor and his pupils found interest being affixed towards the floor as his fingers pointed together. “Sorry Master.. I’ll be more careful.”

He moped as a child would before righting his chair and getting back upon it. Dispirited from the fall, his mischievous plan was trashed and he stayed silent for the rest of the meal. Meudra's voice picked back up with a tone like nothing had happened. “You were about to say something, Invex?” 

“...r-right. Annery was talking about the fortune-farseer ritual. Depending on what game you play with Trust you get different fortunes. I played to get a forecast for the upcoming Season Shift.”

Meudra’s head tilted back with surprise. “That’s more general mysticism than what I’d call necromancy- but it’s smart to have a strong magical foundation if you want to truly experience the depths of the dark arts. What did Trust say, anyways?”

Invex hesitated. She hadn’t thought that far. Taking longer than needed to finish her mouthful, she stalled until the first thing came to mind. “Clear skies for all four days!”

She slapped on a smile to seem convincing. Meudra shrugged and seemed content. “Then we’ll have an easy transition into the next year. I’ll have to close the apothecary for the 4 festivals. I'm sure you all want the time to appreciate the holiday anyway.” 

The tightening tension inside Invex’s chest finally faded and dinner continued in relative peace until everyone had their fill. Meudra left first for her study, followed shortly by Annery. Reneta stayed behind as it was her turn to take care of dishes, leaving Invex and Eduardo to filter out of the dining hall at the same time.

Eduardo, a few feet ahead of invex, tilted his shoulders to talk back to her. “Trusday dinner is always so tense. I feel like Meudra’s gonna suck my soul out if I tell her I did nothing.” 

Invex observes with a half-smile. “Haha, yeah. I’m sure Reneta gets a kick out of it though. She clings more to the Master than Annery, and he’s her familiar.” 

Color returned to her face as the close exchange at dinner faded from her mind. Eduardo continued on. “Oh, totally. You saw the way she shot out of her seat at the mild compliment she got. She’s probably swooning right now.”

They both share a loud laugh and feel immeasurably better.

“Are you still on for our hike tonight? I’ve got a good feeling about that meteor I saw land in the woods. The one I told you about 3 days ago.” Ed reminded her.

Invex shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, but I don’t know what you’re expecting. It’s a hunk of rock from space. Probably the size of a stove at the biggest.” She reasoned.

Eduardo paid the skepticism no mind. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? That rock could’ve come from **anywhere** , and we’ll have it all to ourselves.”

She dismissed the blinding optimism with a wave of her hand, but her smile showed her annoyance was only for show. “Alright, fine. I’m excited about the possibilities too. Just give me an hour and I’ll meet you at our old hideout.” 

“...” Eduardo’s silence paired with a coy grin and he walked farther ahead. “Ooh I see. You want some time to see the baker’s daughter and sneak in some smoochin’ time, huh?”

Invex stopped and felt her face fall pink in embarrassment. “Y-You! No! Fuck off! She’s not even back yet- and we aren’t like that Eddie.” She insisted.

Her pseudo-brother was already howling with a laughter that spurred her cheeks a deeper shade of pink as she stammered on “I-I just have to clean the ritual chamber b-b-before anything else- which I th-think I’ll be doing now, _thank you very much_ .”

She huffed and turned around back to the stairs. Eduardo’s joy settled down and he looked down the hall and a thought crossed his mind. What _was_ Annery trying to tell the master?

* * *

**Act I | Intermission**

Eduardo couldn’t get that nagging thought out of his mind. He had no reason to fret yet that phantom worry still sat uncomfortably inside him. He moved down the hall until he found Annery. He paced in an oblong shape around the Master’s study where the door held shut. His hands held behind his back and the line that indicated a mouth laid flat in thought. 

Annery slowed and his contemplative face broke with an idle smile of enjoyment at the present company. “Hey, Eddie. Thanks for taking care of the garden for me today.”

Eduardo shot him a thumbs up. “Think nothing of it. I did have something on my mind though. What were you gonna say at dinner before your spill?” 

The wisp held off on his answer for a moment of contemplation before taking Eduardo 20 feet down the hall. He leered around and when no one seemed present, Annery relented to the request. “Well.. there’s a reason I was late for dinner. Invex seemed real beat up over whatever ritual she held. I snuck in and saw what she was _really_ doing today! Not that forecast yarn she spun.”

Annery’s torso grew more defined with a spikey ball that showcased his distaste for her. “But I can still tell the Master what she **really** did today.”

His smile dipped in the middle and his perfectly-drawn fangs poked out in his excitement.

Eduardo quirked a brow at the revelation that his pseudo-sister lied, but kept his shoulders relaxed and informal. “Woah, woah. Hold up. What did she even do?” 

“Oh you won’t believe it, twerp. She used one of **the** banned Nobody rituals. The kind that even Master Medura forbids.” 

Ed grimaced while his mind raced to what was about to happen. Annery continued with a devilish smile. “I've just been thinking of the best way to break the news to the Master.” 

Eduardo’s shoulders no longer felt so relaxed. “Oookay. Ann, I’ve got to ask you a favor. Could you, just this once, forget what Invex did?”

Annery’s cloud bristled and he shared a firm stare with Eduardo. “No. No way. Invex doesn’t get off scot-free for breaking one of the hard and fast rules of her apprenticeship- of the Necrosists banned spell list!”

Ed pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, but you know Meudra. She dolls out harsh punishment just for a slip of the tongue. You tell her what Invex did and she’ll…”

Eduardo doesn’t have the stomach to finish his conclusion but the dead air got the message across.

Annery crossed his wrists in a stubborn show of refusal. “Invex already risked her life when she made the foolish choice to cast the ritual. Every action has consequences, Eddie.”

Eduardo felt like the tendons in his shoulders would snap with the stress he felt right now. That last line played in his head a few times and his conviction moving forward was finally set. “So you really feel that way. Guess I’ll have to tell Meudra about the time you tore the bark and branches off Meudra’s wisp willow last month.”

Eduardo stared back down to Annery to gauge his distress, which was plentiful and spiteful. “You.. you heartless backstabber! That was during a full moon. I couldn’t control myself! She’d dissipate me for that!” 

“Yeah. Now you know the situation you’ve put me in. I can’t let you endanger my sister, Annery.”

He squared his shoulders and kept his stare solemn. Annery’s angry frown twitched as his dedicated posture waivered. “You’re going to go that far for her. How can I trust you? You could just rat me out to Meudra while I keep my mouth shut, and it’s nonexistence for me!”

Eduardo’s lips contorted to the side and his brow crinkled in thought. “You’re right. We can’t rely on our word alone to make this work.”

His hand fumbles in his materials pouch and steps forward to show Annery a needle and nail file. “But there’s something that can help us. A perversion of a Trust spell. You know about the pinky-promise, right?”

Annery’s eye squinted as he took a step forward to mirror Ed’s movement.“Yeah, the two parties make a promise about a secret, and if one person breaks it, the other person knows right away. Doesn’t sound reliable when lives are on the line.”  
  
“Maybe not, but that spell deals with secrets, so Nobody has its claim over it too. I’ve read about a necromantic philosopher who put their own unique flair on the spell. The promise is made with a small wound on both party’s finger before the spell is cast. The first to break the secret has their fingers broken, one by one.”

Annery shivered at the thought. “It’s called Ignacio’s Curse.”

Annery paused for a long time after that suggestion and Eduardo patiently waited for his response. Annery’s careful consideration finally broke and he responded. “F… fine. You aren’t gonna risk your future as a 2-bit writer, so let’s do it. I’m guessing the file is for my claws?”

Eduardo nodded. He squatted low so he and Annery could meet at the same level and offered the nail file to Annery. Ed pricked his pinky finger with a wince before the blood started to run in steady droplets down the side of his hand. Annery quickly filed through his smallest claw before a sizzling vapor was released from inside. It smelled of sulfur and sap. They wrapped their pinkies together and Ed thought to ask. “You know the incantation for Pinkie Promise, right?” 

“Ugh, of course.” Annery snapped back.

Eduardo nodded. “Good, just replace ‘chiming tone’ with ‘broken bone’. Together, now.”

He led them in the whispered incantation and their voices seemed to bleed together and line up with the same inflection, pace, and volume.

“ _Go down to the river with your mate, where you’ll spin the yarn and talk your fate. Together with unease your fingers intertwine, this secret bond where your spirits resign. Sever your word and feel alone, your mate will know by the broken bone.”_

The last syllable ushered in a cold breeze and the risen mist from Annery’s claw suddenly dipped low. It intertwined with the lowest drop of red on Eduardo’s arm before the two sources formed a pearl of energy that hit the ground with a quiet, sharp noise. Eduardo stood up, took the initiative, and crushed the pearl under his heel. The cold breeze fell comatose and any sense that a spell was cast was gone. Annery let go and stepped back and rubbed his slowly sizzling claw.

“I hate that spell. I thought we were friends.” The wisp turned his back on Eduardo and held to the sneer across his body.

Eduardo’s brows tilted up, visibly hurt. “We are. Or, I-I still hope we are. You have to understand. Reneta, Invex, and I don’t have anyone else but each other. I need to look after them.

Annery wouldn’t respond. He kept his back to Eduardo and walked away. At least that way Eduardo couldn’t see the tears Annery fought to keep from flowing. Ed finally wrapped the pinky-prick with a clean piece of cloth and walked the other way, leaving out the side entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoopZLoop  
> Tumblr: https://loopzloop.tumblr.com/
> 
> Don't forget to leave a Kudos or a Comment if you enjoyed it.


	3. Beautiful Cosmic Scar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Invex and Eduardo meet up in their little hideaway in the woods to search for signs of a meteor landing.

**Act I | Scene III**

Invex retreated back downstairs and cleaned the ritual chamber without issue. She left the apothecary with 10 minutes to spare. She was greeted with the sight of her home village, Málaga. The sun had started its orange cascade down the rim of the sky and its warm beams reflected off the rooftops of the various nearby buildings. The cobbler’s place, the smithy’s, the tanner’s, and all the other family craftworkers’ homes reflected its comforting glory. Invex made a brisk pace down the cobbled main road and passed the village center that loomed over a well with it's encompassing shadow. She then passed through Málaga. Her old leather satchel showed signs of instability from age so she made a quick stop for a replacement. She kept conversation to a minimum to make sure she wasn’t late. The only time she truly slowed down was when she saw the Baker’s home. 

It was one of the few commoner-owned buildings that were constructed out of a uniform red-brick and mortar design. The owner’s husband was in good standing with the local mason after he saved her life and it was clear where that life-debt went. Painted next to the wooden entrance was a person-sized depiction of the Grand Spirit Haven, shaped with white squares and purple polygonal cores with three sharp, yellow, triangular eyes. The closed window hatches told her what she already knew, that the Bakers wouldn’t be back for a few more days. 

Invex looked at the letter she had pulled out of her new bag. It had a few wrinkles that set in from its cramped position inside. _To: Petrona Baker_ it read on the envelope, although Invex didn’t dare put her name on the same exterior that shared a heart-shaped wax seal. She wanted to slip it under the doorframe and just leave the reception of her letter in the hands of the Grands, but a latent anxiety bubbled up through her chest. It made her hesitate and her fingers clasped the envelope tightly.

“Maybe... Maybe tomorrow.” She thought as she leered an inch towards the door.

“But they might be back by then. I should leave it and go. I’m ready, right?” 

The obnoxious way Eduardo said “smoochin’ “ ran through her mind and the uncomfortable warmth that wrapped around her jawline intensified to a noticeable coloration of her face as she shook her head, stuffed the letter away, and ran towards the forested edge of Málaga. There she could disappear to the usual spot that she knew Ed would be waiting for her. At least tonight he’ll be too distracted to tease her further. About her crush, anyway.

Past the threshold of the developed acres and into the natural Mystryal land was a distinct difference visualized by the native flora. Flora with prominent bioluminescence make up about a third of all plantlife in Mystral. The borders of a town, city, village, or hamlet are clearly and easily marked by how bright the ambient light is. From one splash of color to another, Invex left her sunset-gilded home for a forest of glowing purples, blues, greens, and smaller amounts of colors out and in-between. She followed the trees marked with chipped red dye until she finally approached a small clearing. A semicircle 40 feet in diameter with a firepit preceding a flimsy wooden structure. Tacked on to the front of the structure was a wooden sign with faded black lettering that read 'Fort Ascuas' in blocky, childish handwriting. 

Eduardo was there by the unlit campfire. He sat on a trunk he had long since fashioned into a serviceable stool. He looked up to the rustled leaves that heralded Invex’s arrival with a smile. Ed held up his pack that he made for their trek tonight. “About time. I was about to call off the hike if you took any longer.” He holds his bronze pocket watch with a smug aura.

Invex held back the urge to let her eyes roll back into her skull. “I swear you became 10 times more unbearable the day you got that Catalysic watch.” She declared with a huff and a chuckle. 

Invex sat down across from him in the dirt with her arms rested across her knees. “So. Any idea where that shooting star fell or do you just expect us to bushwhack through acres of trees all night?”

Ed nodded and let stashed his watch away. He pulled out a parchment scroll that he rolled out on top of the stone ring pit that showed a map of the area around the village- something Ed had slowly drawn and added to for years now.

His amateur cartography skills aside the map showed the shape of the village and their apothecary within it to the south. The part of the forest their ‘fort’ resided sat a few minutes northwest of the village. The only notable feature of the woods he had mapped was the river that split the forest in half before it curved along the lower half of the village. Eduardo pointed to the camp and let his finger sway across the northwest end of the forest. “I know it's not in here. The streak that meteor took easily landed past the river. We can also rule out any place just outside the village itself because I’m betting someone would have found it by now.”

Eduardo traced his finger into a smaller and smaller shape until he was outlining a northeast bubble of the map, just past the river. “My best guess is that we’ll find the impact crater somewhere in... here!”

Invex tilted her head back and gave a nod in engagement. “Wow... must've put a lot of effort into that estimate. You really wanna find this space junk, huh?”

Eduardo responded with a closed eye smile. “This is going to be big, Vex. I can feel it. It’ll be one hell of a story- and just imagine the bragging rights.”

Invex looked satisfied with that answer and stood up before she dusted off the back of her pants. “I was already sold, but I’m glad to see you’re serious about this. Lead the way, Eddiot.” She gestured to the east.

That action spurred Ed forward, bumping into her to purposefully make her teeter out of the way. He heckled her and ran ahead “Don’t fall too far behind. Wouldn’t want you scared and crying home to Mommy~!” 

“I- She’s not our damn mom Eddie! Get back here!” She groaned and chased after him.

So the search began. Moments built to minutes and an hour-long trek led them deep into the forest thicket with little slowing them down beyond dense vegetation. Eduardo’s pace slowed to a more responsible hiking speed. They reached the river clearing and he stopped entirely. He set his sack down before he leaned against a nearby tree to wait for Invex who was only a minute behind.

Invex huffed her way into the clearing before leaning over and holding a thick branch for support. “You have legs built like a wolf. It’s unreal I tell you.”

He put up a zealous cross of his arms and a toothy smile. “Oh, don’t feel embarrassed, I’m just naturally this good.” He stated.

“I’m not.” She replied flatly.

“I’m saying you’re a freak of nature.”

Ed was unfazed by the insult but Invex didn’t much care for an actual dig at her brother; not when they were in the middle of a nostalgic adventure. She slowly recovered her breath as her eyes looked up at the marvel that was the river at night. The running stream of water made for a soothing soundscape as it rolled across the rocky riverbed with a calming babble. That paired with the intermittent birdcalls of both animals and beast spirits. The light from nearby flora reflected against the surface of the water in a wavering menagerie of colors, all forming a translucent shield of reflected light above the fish that traversed below the water’s surface.

Inves smiled softly.“I don’t get why anyone chooses to live outside Mystryal. Not when we get sights like this.” 

Eduardo shrugs. “Maybe they just don’t know. Or they have astounding cities like in Liebesburg or Catalys?”

Invex wrinkled her nose at the thought of trading natural awe for human-crafted havens of flattened land and force-assured safety.“Yeah, but it's not like we can use much mysticism or necromancy outside Mystryal. It’s what we spent our whole life dedicating ourselves to.”  
  
Eduardo paused. The thought never crossed his mind. Maybe it was never important enough to him. Regardless of why he just laughed at the insinuation. “You say it like I’m planning some trip out of here.”

Invex looked to him with raised eyebrows, nonverbally begging the question.  
  
He bumped the back of his hand against her shoulder and started for the river's edge. “And leave you two alone with Ms. Tall Brooding and Evil? C’mon, you know me better than that.”

“Let’s get going. It’s already almost nightfall. I think I see a stable set of stones we can hop across.”

Eduardo led the way and skirted the river’s edge until he got to a shallow break in the river where several large rocks peeked out into the top. Invex rushed over, waving him down. “You’re going to break your neck like that! Let’s just follow the river to the nearest bridge.”

He spared one look back to her and took the next moment to leap across some rocks. He shouted back while he skipped from stone to stone with the practiced ease of a kid used to putzing around in the forest way too often. “No time! Who knows how long that'll take. If we aren’t back by sunrise you know how Meudra will react.”

Invex dropped her hands and resigned herself to the fact that nothing is going to get in Ed’s way tonight, not even common sense. 

Eduardo was almost across the river when Invex started to mirror his motions with a sloppy semblance of success. He reached the other side and watched her with an irritating presence of amusement. He wanted to heckle her but his ears distracted him from the moment. Amidst the whirr of rushing water, he heard a faint splashing coming from downstream. The sound picked up with quickening intensity and his eyes scanned to that direction. From 100 feet down the way, Ed saw two thick waves that cut through the river’s surface with a large, red, scaly bump peeking out from the center. Whatever it was, it sped against the current and it's crashing waves would hit Invex in moments.

He shouted. “Uh- Vex! Hurry up! Something’s coming this way!” 

This prompted her to look over at her imminent fate and panic. Invex picked up the pace and the instability of her stance only worsened. The sound of skittering water swelled in the instants that passed. Invex was just outside of leaping distance of solid ground. Eduardo thought quick and pulled something from his travel sack- a long studded club. He held it out as an extension of his reach and Invex took the hint. She bent her knees low and sprung forward. Her hands just clutched at the blunt weapon with a white-knuckled grip. In the same motion, Eduardo yanked the club back with his entire body. It caused both him and Invex to tumble onto the ground a few feet from the edge. It was a messy, but safe landing. 

The fish, for its part, had no stake in this emergency, as it was a fish. It swam past them with nothing more than a thick spray of water that doused both of them. A handful of seconds later and it was gone, which left Invex and Eduardo to lay on the grass panting.

“I fucking _told_ you to wait until we found a bridge.” Invex spat out.

She slowly pulled herself to her feet and while she wrung out her dark blue tunic. Eduardo sighed as he pulled himself to a sitting position. He muttered while his fluster showed through his downward skittering stare. “Yeah yeah, you were right, I’m wrong, history repeats itself.”

He looked her over for any injuries. “I’m just glad you’re ok. I wonder what that thing was. It had to be a magoria, right?” 

Invex nodded in agreement. “No fish I ever saw moved through water like that without elemental magic. Maybe it was a silver salmon? Those things go up waterfalls a leaf in the wind.”

She paused and cast her gaze over to the weapon Eduardo revealed earlier. “You just had that on hand?” She pointed to the wooden club.

Eduardo picked up the weapon and used it to help him stand. “Yep. I always keep it handy when I explore the forest. I have not lived 17 seasons just to be digested by some half-brained bear or wolf looking for a snack. The pain distracts whatever might attack me long enough so I can bolt.”  
  
She rolled her eyes. “Right, but where did you get it? The smithy better not selling weapons to kids..”

Ed chuckled and held up the weapon. “No, no, but it's weird where I did get it. I snuck into Annery’s room one time and I found this under a bunch of old trinkets.”

His mote of laughter grew into a giggle as he continued. “Could you imagine, the little guy holding this thing like he was gonna hit you? It’s almost as tall as him!” Ed continued to laugh.

He influenced her to join in too until she took a closer look at it. She approached him with a curious tilt of her head. “That’s odd though. If it's his club how old is he? The studs are so rusted and the leather is worn enough that I might think that this thing 100 years old, if not more...”

She trailed off and seemed genuinely perplexed. Ed had stopped to listen, and by the gentle wrinkle of his brow, he was in thought about it too. Abruptly, he just stuffed it away and waved off the question. “Of course he’s old, Vex. He’s always calling us twerps, and it's not like spirits can die of old age. This is probably just some trinket Meudra got him since he worships the ground she walks on. Besides, we came out here to hunt space rocks, not gossip about Ann’s age. We’re almost to the estimated area of impact!”

He pushed past the conversation and through the sheer force of personality convinced both of them to get back to their goal. Invex agreed and they carried on to the other side of the forest. 

Invex pushed a suggestion. “What are you expecting to find, anyway? What if it’s just some tiny lump of metal?”

Ed’s pace slowed for a few seconds in contemplation. “Well.. if it’s a piece of rock, then I wanna collect it. Tell everyone I’ve nicked a nugget of the night sky. If it’s metal though I’m definitely asking the smithy to make a dagger out of it.”

Invex groaned and dragged her facial features down with her fingers. “How many times do I have to listen to you go giddy over the idea of a space blade? It’s just a weapon, they’re all pretty deadly Eddie!” She shouted.

Eddie simply laughed off the scrutiny. “It’d be the only one of its kind. Pino told me that most meteors burn up into dust before they hit the ground.”

This didn’t make things better. His response earned him an even louder, more exasperated sound than the last. “Are you still hanging out with that junk merchant? You know his stories are all bullshit.”

Eduardo stopped in offense for his friend. "Junk?"

He staunchly shook his head. “He sells souvenirs from all over the land! Stuff you can’t get anywhere in Mystryal. That hand mirror I got you for your birthday last spring was from him, you know. Crafted by Phantoist monks in Liebesbug.”

Invex inhaled to make another groan, but she stopped to pull out the gift in question. It was an expertly crated mirror with a smooth exterior made of polished red agate. The only problem was a small crack in the center of the glass. She appreciated her smile in the reflection and let her inhale go. “Alright. I guess he’s not a complete hack. I still can’t believe some of the tall tales he thinks he can get away with.”

She gave herself a wink and put it away. “What’s that one you insist is real? Catalys artists from space?”

She snorted at the idea as they slowed their trek to give the conversation a bit more focus. Eduardo waved his hand as he rebutted her. “You’re simplifying it too much. The way Pino told it, Catalysians are crazy good at engineering, right?”

Invex’s smile was wide and condescending but she nodded anyway. Eduardo went on. “Their understanding of mezmer and how it affects gravity makes traversal a snap for them. Recently, they’ve taken some of those horizontal efforts and made them vertical. Like.. super catapults.”

Invex nodded along and gave Eduardo the floor to continue. "Uh-huh..."

“Well, it's still pretty unpractical. Most of the time, test volunteers break their necks crashing into the ground. Still, the scholars over there are crazy about the possibilities. Some think they could even reach space before Talouw’s gravity pulled them back down. There have been some reports of young poets making capsules of junk metal, lining the bottom with a ton of amber and mercury to make a crude Mesmer vehicle. They launch themselves into the sky, unimaginably high above the clouds. They all die in the end, but they spend those precious few moments above the sky to write about the splendor and glory of our planet. Their fatal poems immortalize them. The country is trying to outlaw it but at the same time museums are accepting the poems to put on display. It’s an awful waste of life but what I wouldn’t give to read one of those sonnets.” 

Eduardo expands upon the topic with such passion that Invex’s teasing, flippant disposition on the issue waivered, and she's left to watch the genuinely excited smile on his face.

She grew an appreciative smirk and stashed her hands in her pocket to act coy. “Well, I know Pino was traveling with the Bakers. When they get back, I can ask him what it’d cost to pick up a copy of a poem.”

Her eyes traveled over to him to gauge his reaction Eduardo’s excited look became interrupted with a hesitant crease of his eyes. “Oh, uh, I know you’ve been saving up though, you really don’t-”

Invex stopped his protests short. “Nuh-uh, none of that Eddie You only get excited about stuff you really care about. Sure, I might not believe all of it, but I’m big enough to admit I could be wrong."

She flashed a clever smirk. "Besides, Pino’s got a soft spot for you and I can use that to haggle whatever ridiculous price he suggests.”

Eduardo looked forward again just to hide his bashful grin. Neither of them said anything in the moments that lingered beyond her caring declaration, but eventually, Ed spoke up with a tenderness that warmed his sister's soul. “Thanks, Vex. That means a lot.”

With a content feeling in their hearts, they were ready to continue on. For another half-hour, they weaved through the trees and started their search into the approximate area where the space debris should have landed. They hadn’t found anything yet but the sparse appearance of woodland creatures was a good sign. Something likely spooked them from the area, or at least that's what Invex reasoned.

The two had made it to the underside of a large, bending rock overpass where bioluminescent moss grew thick and heavy. They had stopped on Eduardo’s insistence he could get a better vantage point from on top of the craggy cliff they stood under. While they searched the area for a safe way to climb, a rustling of bushes awoke the coward inside Invex. She stood up with a rigid posture as she listened intently in the direction of the noise. She saw that Eduardo was testing his foothold against the rock wall where it met some of the more dense vegetation. “Eddie? You should be careful. I don’t think _everything_ was scared away by the meteor.”

She took a smattering of paces towards him. Eduardo stepped back from the wall. “What’s up? Did you see something?” 

“Mmm, n-no, but I feel like something’s in the bushes.” She pointed to the general direction she heard the ‘something’ from.

Eduardo pulls his club out as a precaution and inched towards the bush. The studded weapon was held high in one hand, he yanked the thicket of leaves to the side to reveal a tiny blue rabbit. It dashed off as soon as he made eye contact with the thing and he couldn’t help but bellow in laughter.

Invex huffed. “What!?”

“It was a hare, Vex. You were spooked by a little bunny rabbit!”

He cackled and lowered the club as he laughed for longer than was necessary to rub it in. In the dying fit of laughter Invex finally noticed the real lingering threat. A wide sliver of the rocky wall began to slither in Ed’s direction. The light of a nearby tree glinted off its scales and the serpent's head that led the movement stuck out a thin, black tongue. Invex’s heart sank.

“EDUARDO!”

She took a rushed step toward him but the sound she made pushed events into motion. Eduardo looked to Invex just in time for the sizeable camouflage constrictor to launch itself at him. That springing motion tackled him to the ground and his club skittered far away from his reach. The snake, at least thrice as long as Eduardo and as thick as his leg, already wrapped around his arms and torso with a strength that left him no room to scream. He only had room to weakly wheeze in pain while the tough musculature of the serpent wrung ever tighter.

Invex’s panic shut down the terrified paralysis that a predator of this size would put her in. Instead, she slid across the wet moss and ripped the club off the ground. Her hand reached down to a wooden latch on the side of her belt that opened up to reveal ritual dyes of six different colors. Her index finger smudged into a navy blue and her middle pressed against a vibrant, bloody red. With speed and grace that could only be recounted as masterful, she marked her left arm with a simplified symbol of Nobody in blue before she ran the middle finger across the club in a single long streak.

She took a swing at the snake’s head while it still wove around Eduardo’s body. It just barely made contact and the loose red dye made a faint mark between the hungry serpent’s eyes. It gave an angry hiss and quickly loosened its killing grip on her brother. Its body reared back with a jaw that unhinged with the devoted intent to swallow her whole. In seconds she would be half-devoured with her pseudo-brother too winded to help. Those seconds were all she needed.  
  
“ _I wager my limb and command you to_ ** _cease!_** ”

Her incantation echoed through the underpass and the snake leaped towards her. In the middle of its arc the dye on both of them began to glow until the snake’s mark grew twice as bright and its eyes glazed over black. Its sense of momentum came to a dead halt and its body hit the ground. Cracks of blue and white and yellow and red and a multitude of others extended from that glowing mark on the snake until it burst into light, forcing both Eduardo and Invex to cover their eyes.

When the flash ceased to be, they both looked back to see that the same had happened to the snake. In place of the corpse were 5 hand-sized chunks of crystalline soul gems. The adrenaline of the moment still pumped through both their veins and they kept still in awe that they were both somehow still alive. 

Invex muttered as she stepped to Eduardo's side. “Fuck. Are you ok?”

She looked him over with a worried intensity to her stare. Eduardo put his hand on Invex’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “Grands, I’m gonna feel worse in the morning. I think so. It didn’t have enough time to crush my ribs. Not before you pulled some sage-level tactics on the thing.”

Invex helped him to his feet and they both turned back to the lifeless hunks of rock their attacker now was. The tension in her shoulders finally unwound and she nearly collapsed against him with a thankful smile. “This space rock better be worth it.” She spoke up in a haggard, playful tone.

The reply caused Eduardo’s soft smile to twitch away in guilt. He hugged her and got her on her feet. 

He pointed to the quartz-like crystals she made. “What spell was that? It seems powerful.” 

Invex was reinvigorated with the reminder. “Oh, I should take those.”

She knelt over and collected them into a specific pouch in her bag. “It’s called the Ceasing Bet and it was originally made as a desperate way to purify beast spirits. If you know the animal is possessed by a beast spirit you make the markings, declare the wager of your limb, and if you're right, Nobody destroys the body and crystalizes the spirit’s psyche."

She rubs the dye off her arm. “If you’re wrong, well.. you lose what you bet.”

Eduardo grimaced at what could have happened. “How did you know?”

Invex put the last crystal away and tilted her hand in a so-so gesture. She calmly explained her gamble. “I didn’t, but I had a pretty good guess it was. Snakes don’t attack groups of humans like that, unless if it was starving, maybe. It wouldn’t be worth the risk of a meal.”

Eduardo just stared at her. “You scare me sometimes.”

Invex grew a childish, evil grin and looked up at him. “Good.”

He snorted. “Thanks for that though. I’m starting to think this whole trip was a bad idea. Do you want to call it a night and forget the whole thing?”

Invex rubbed the spell marking off her forearm to give her a moment to think it over, but ultimately she refused with a slow shake of her head. “Not yet. Let’s climb this overpass. If we don’t see any signs of a meteor landing, we’ll go back home.”

Eduardo picked up his humbled pride with her encouragement and managed to smile again. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

She teased with a bump to his hip as she passed him to the wall. "At this point, you owe me five."

Eduardo followed and after a few concentrated minutes of searching, Invex found a safe path to climb up the 50-foot overpass. She went first and pulled Eduardo up when he followed after. They crested above the treeline and had a whole forest canopy to gander at. At this height, the short reach of the forest’s light pollution fell short. Stars beamed across the night sky with the faded blue arm of their home galaxy severing the sky akin to a beautiful cosmic scar. The moon was but one stitch along the scar in its half-shadowed form. Invex commented. “From up here, I can see why you want a telescope so badly.”

Her gaze became much more focused on the sky than the forest. Eduardo’s smile flashed wide for the moment and both simply stood there, enraptured by an existential peace. He thought about how lucky they were that they were still unharmed, and how much luckier that the danger prior led to this moment, this natural reward they earned together. He opened his mouth, ready to call it quits.

Then Invex’s eyes traveled down the sky’s scar and widened at something. “...Ed. Eddie look.”

She patted his arm and pointed over to a nearby area of the canopy. Whereas the surrounding trees were all aglow the entire patch was covered in darkness with trees snapped and uprooted by the force of something unknown. Eduardo stared, slackjawed with excitement until he found the will to speak. “Something hit those trees with enough force to kill all of them.”

Invex couldn’t hide her own giddiness at their breakthrough. “I think we just found our meteor.”

She made for the same slope of rock they climbed up and started her traversal down. “Let’s go! We’re going to get you a whole fucking space broadsword with a meteor that big!”

She sped down and that was enough to spur Eduardo to similar action. Now Invex led their charge and they raced to the impact sight with a youthful exuberance that kept them from tripping over the tangled web of uprooted trunks and roots. It took just minutes to find a boulder-sized groove that cut into the dirt. They followed the carved ground to a hill that held what they sought.

Lodged in the middle of the incline was a large capsule of strengthened alloy charred all over by its re-entry. Encasing the mechanical marvel was a thick earthy shell unlike the soft build of the hill’s dirt. The pod was a dull silver color and almost pear-shaped save for the deep vertical dent where the tough material buckled upon impact. The side of the pod contained a thick window far too cracked to see inside and the top held a circular hatch. 

Invex stared at the improbable sight before them. “Uh-Eddie? You don’t think this is one of those…”

She didn’t want to admit it. Eduardo didn’t either. “No, n-no way, it couldn’t be. Pino told me the poets only made it a few miles from the launch site. Catalys is across a desert and an entire _mountain range!_ ” He exclaimed.

Neither had made a move since they realized what it was.

“Well, it couldn’t have come from space!” Invex argued.

Their combined silence gave them both the same question. “Unless?”

Eduardo shook his head. “No, that’s even more insane. Maybe... Maybe it is a fatalist poet from Catalys. Just one that managed to get really, really… _really_ far.”

Invex frowned. “So you’re saying there’s a corpse in there?”

Eduardo shrugged. “Probably. We won’t know until we check it out.”

That got a glare from his pseudo-sister. “You are **not** getting me near that thing. You should open it. The poor idiot inside at least deserves a proper burial, and you could carry them back home better than I can.”

Eduardo gripped his knuckles and resigned himself to approach the pod. He climbed up the hill and carefully pulled himself up along the warped ladder along its side. He twisted the hatch only to find it was already loose. He muttered to himself. “Must’ve gotten knocked in the crash.”

He threw it open and pulled out his lantern. He lit it and peeked inside. His nose shriveled in anticipation of decay’s scent.. but that never hit him.

Eduardo didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. His eyes just continued to search the pod’s interior with silent fervor. Invex’s anticipation pushed her to call out. She asked with a step forward. “What do you see! Is the body in bad shape?”

He shook his head asthe hand that held the lantern fell to his side. “No Invex, you don’t understand.”

He turned to catch her gaze and keep her attention. "I can't find a corpse. Nobody's in there.”

The words hit her clearly and coldly. The forest’s dying summer chill hit them and Invex felt a cold sweat approach. They shared the same terrifying thought. There was a stranger in the woods, and all 3 of them were alone together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
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	4. Imijaro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A squabble between siblings leads to a chance encounter with the stranger in the woods.

**Act II | Scene I**

The revelation that Invex and Eduardo might be in danger hit the siblings in different ways. Eduardo’s knuckles had gone white with the tightened grip he had on his lantern and the rest of his joints locked up in paralyzed fear. Invex had already spun her head around and cast a paranoid gaze to the treeline around them. When her agitation rose to the back of her throat she felt the compulsion to yell overtake her. “Dammit. Dammit, why did we _come_ here!? We’ve already nearly died to animals- now some spaceman is surely stalking us!” 

Her verbal panic broke Eduardo out of his trance. He slid down the side of the pod and ran down the hill toward her. The momentum propelled him to his sister’s side in moments. “Woah, Vex, calm down Vex!”

Eduardo put his hand on her shoulder and held it to keep her from spiraling any further. She looked back to him with a terrified crease that still tensed her brow. Ed loosened his grip and let his hand fall to hers, gently squeezing it. “I’m sorry. If I knew what we’d find, I would have never brought us into the forest. I’d go back in time and slap myself if I could, but we’re here now.” 

Invex’s eyes took a turn for the ruined soil they stood atop of and Ed continued. “Scurrying like rats isn’t going to help. We need to head back and tell the village sage. He can take care of it.” 

Invex kept staring down at the ground. At Eduardo’s suggestion, she pulled her hand away. “No.”

Eduardo squinted at his sister and tried to read her blank, resolute expression. “What? We aren’t equipped for-”

Invex shook her head and cut Eduardo off with a curt tone as their eyes met. “No, Eddie! We’re not safe until we hunt down the person who crawled out of that pod. Our footprints are all over this mess, and as soon as that stranger comes back here they’re gonna be hunting whoever knows about them.”

Eduardo’s facial features scrunched up in sheer confusion and gestured back to the pod with one arm. “Yeah? All the more reason to get out of this forest!”

Invex crossed her arms and kept her eyes on Ed with a firm stare. “What do you think happens when we tell Sage Celso? He tells Meudra we were out at night, by _ourselves_ , and we can say goodbye to ever seeing our fort again. Or the world outside the apothecary, for that matter.”

He opened his mouth to interject but no sensible reply comes to mind. Eduardo pursesd his lips in thought and sighed. “Fine, we won’t tell anyone, not even Sage Celso.”

Before Invex can think to suggest anything else he grips her by the wrist and makes for the south-western direction. It was the best guess he had to where the village was. “But we _are_ going home, and I won’t hear another word about it.”

Invex stumbled behind him, forced to follow along as Eduardo strongarmed her past the clearing and towards home. She tried to tug her arm back- but their difference in strength worked against her. When simple force failed she tried to reason with him. “Eddie. I’d love to run away, but we can’t! Our best chance is to find them tonight while they don’t know we’re here.” 

If she was making any sense to him, Eduardo didn’t show it. He kept his eyes forward, his feet moving, and his grip held taught. Already, the grim portent behind them grew smaller and smaller as the forest lights obfuscated the dim crash site. “You’re not thinking clearly and I’m done talking sense into you. We’re leaving.” 

Eduardo’s insistence fed the growing tension in Invex’s shoulders. Frustration and fury made her jaw tremble in resentment. She still couldn’t wrench her wrist from Ed’s grip but she wasn’t about to let him force the issue. Invex’s lips curled tightly and a plan formed in mere instants as her inner conflict finally came to a head. “Fine, be that way, but I won't run away like this.”

Those words led Eduardo’s step to slow, confused by what she meant. He’d feel her meaning just seconds after. Invex yanked herself forward and bite his wrist with the same force that she used to destroy her dinner. Eduardo bleated in pain and swiped his hand away in reflex. By the time he was rubbing the bite-mark, Invex was already running. She dashed westward away from him. 

Eduardo’s mind forgot all about the pain when he lost sight of her sister. “Vex... You can’t just- I mean- get back here! We're out of our depth!” 

His shouts did nothing but waste time as the distance between them widened even further. Eduardo slapped his face with both hands and forced his indignant feelings deep in his gut. Instead of stewing in those emotions, he took off after her. She already had a minute head start and they both knew she was the better sprinter of the two. That fact didn’t slow Eduardo, as he was confident she could only push herself so far. All he had to do was tire her out, then she’d have no choice but to follow him home. 

At least, that was Eduardo’s logic before he heard a familiar scream. In a terrified tone that Ed had already heard once today, a voice cried out. “EDUARDO!”

It was faint but he didn’t need to wait for another scream. He took a hard pivot to his left where he was sure he heard her and left a trail of dust as he kicked off the ground. “Invex! I’m coming!”

So he went with steps that bordered on flying, driven by his duty as the eldest to follow the sound of her voice and save her. Although he was sure he’d have reached her by now, every other moment was punctuated by that same cry for help, just as far away. Spurred by her distress, he continued to bolt after her and ignored the burning exhaustion that crackled in his searing lungs. “H-Hold on Vex, I’ll save you!”

The voice of his sister cried out again.“EDUARDO!”

Each time he heard it, Eduardo’s worry grew, but he had already pushed himself to sprint as far as he could. He couldn’t even get any reply save for the same call of his name. That fact grew more and more obvious the longer he ran. Eventually, not even the pulsing pain in his chest could distract him from how similar each cry was. 

Eduardo’s pace started to slow as he pulled together a suspicion in his mind. It was the same inflection, the same tone of voice, and even the same length each time he heard it. He knew something wasn’t right.  
  
He dug his heel into the dirt and grabbed a nearby branch to force himself to a halt. After a few initial heaves of his burning throat, he stared in the same direction and waited. Just as he expected, he heard the same screech call back.

It rang again, sound just as far as the last time.“EDUARDO!” 

Relief and regret dragged his shoulders low as he groaned in self-frustration. “I _hate_ beast spirits.” He grumbled.

Eduardo knew he had been tricked, but he continued forward anyways. Now he carried himself with a less panicked gait towards the deceptive cries. A few minutes later and the still unseen spirit led him to a more sparse collection of trees. 

A blur of movement drew his eyesight up towards the canopy. Eduardo squinted when he finally spotted what led him here. In the size and shape of a raven was an ephemeral creature of fuchsia. Its form had a similar make-up to the cloudy composition of Annery, but with a density akin to fog. It stood on a branch a few trees away from Eduardo and stared down at him with tiny, crackling yellow eyes. He stared back and tried to impress his anger on it with a glare. It only lasted four seconds before a tired chuckle broke his concentration.

Eduardo checked the tree he was next to and set his pack down before plopping his butt right next to it. “Alright, fine, you got me. I don’t have the energy to angry at you anyway.” 

The spirit twisted its head and gave a couple of clicks in confusion. It called out again, using a different utterance of his name. “Eddie?” 

Eduardo rolled his head over to look at it again. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” he paused to laugh, “although I guess that’s all you’ve been doing, huh?”

He reached into his pack and pulled out his waterskin and popped the top off with his thumb before half the contents went right past his lips in a long chug. When his thirst finally died he wiped his chin and looked back at the curious bird. “So, you’re obviously smart enough to understand some of what we say, if you recognize names. I’m willing to bet you also have some kind of reason for bringing me here. All spirits have _some_ purpose, after all. Why settle for just me?”

The beast spirit gave a few more clicks and fluttered forward a branch. Eduardo smiled. “I’ll take that you’re interested, good. If I’m exhausted, then Invex has to have stopped for a breather already. If you search around and see her, you can fool her over here as you did me.”

It gave a stationary flap of its wings before replying in a voice he didn’t recognize. “Yes! That’s Perfect!” 

It spread its wings and took off into the denser part of the forest, leaving Eduardo alone. “What a weird bird.” He thought.

Eduardo was left to sit by his tree for a quarter of an hour. When time started to lurch into that uneasy period between short and long he felt restless. It was just when he thought to reach for his pack that he heard the bushes rustle to his right. His eyes followed his ears and unexpected tears came to his eyes when he saw the bright, red, frizzy hair of his sister before the rest came into the light of a nearby tree. His body startled upright before he ran to Invex and hoisted her up into a tight embrace.

Vex’s eyes popped open wide and she was forced to wheeze as her brother’s love constricted against her lungs. “Okay, ok! I’m glad you’re safe too, but you’re not gonna have 2 sisters if you keep crushing me!”

Ed’s overjoyed, closed-eye smile blinked away before he set her down and let her go. “I’m sorry, but I just… Vex, you know how this works, right?”

Her lips curled inward and the guilt became evident on her face. “You’ve told me a hundred times before, I know. The wilderness is dangerous, and going in pairs is vital. Being a lone wolf will just get you killed.”

Eduardo nodded in agreement. “Glad to see you haven’t completely lost it. I’m just glad I had the sense to wait for you to come to me. Why’d you run off in the first place?”

Invex’s cheeks kindled red and she quickly deflected with a question of her own. “Well... wait, hold on. I was led here because I heard _you_ screaming through the forest. How did you do that if you’ve been here the entire time?”

Eduardo let out a short snort and held up his index finger beside him. “C’mon out birdie! I promise she won’t bite!” 

He had hoped she got that reaction out of her system, at least. That assurance was enough as the same fuchsia spirit swooped down from the canopy and rested on the perch Eduardo had provided. Invex dropped her jaw and her stare darted between Eduardo and the spirit. “You. Have. Got to be shitting me. You conspired with an Imijaro!? Against your own sibling?” 

Eduardo delighted in her melodramatics and snickered. He held up his palm to indicate he needed a moment to collect himself before he finally explained himself. “Take a second and breathe, okay? This little guy got me good too. I thought you were in danger too until I realized he was just using your voice. That’s when I got the idea for him to do the same so he could reunite us.”

Invex tried to keep to her inconsolable annoyance, but she already felt the edges of her lips crack into a smile and she couldn’t keep her reactionary anger. “You have got to be the smartest idiot I know. Do you even know what that thing is?”

She points to the bird and Eduardo shrugs. “It’s a beast spirit, ain’t t it? A pretty crafty one at that.”

It chimed in with a comment spliced with Eduardo’s words. “I’m pretty crafty!”

Invex rolled her eyes. “I can see that. It’s an Imijaro. As you saw, it imitates what it’s heard of travelers that it follows. People generally consider it a forest trickster, since they mislead stray people out of the forest.”

Eduardo’s dumb grin grew with the confidence he had in his actions. “This little guy sounds more like a forest _protector_ to me.” He beamed. 

Invex’s tone grew gravely and grating. “Sometimes ‘out of the forest’ to them means into an elemental pyre or tripping down a ravine.”

Her matter-of-fact point brought Eduardo’s shoulders to deflate. “Oh. Uh.. guess we got lucky, huh?”

She let her frustration go with a sigh and looked down to the Imijaro. “I guess… but this doesn’t make sense. It led you here and even agreed to do the same to me, but we’re still pretty far from home.”

Eduardo didn’t have an explanation and soon looked to his new companion. “Yeah uh- why is that, little buddy?”

The spirit gave a few clicks and hopped around to face Eduardo, this time using their combined voices to carry out a more complex message. “The forest ain’t safe with the stranger over there. Take it back with you.”

Eduardo’s face regained some of that earlier tension as he slowly looked around. “Over.. where?”

The Imijaro took this as its cue and flew off his finger. Eduardo scooped up his pack and kept his club by his side as the two followed the spirit to the edge of the open patch. It sat on the lowest hanging branch of an aged, thick birch covered in spotted white bark. Its leaves shone in a comforting silver glow that hugged the ground below its reach. At the base of this sturdy tree was a figure lying down and huddled at its base. Everything save for their short, curly blonde hair was obscured by a long blue cape and iron plate mail painted with geometric shapes. Both siblings grimaced when they saw the stranger. Even though their shoulder still rose and fell in a restful slumber neither of them wanted to approach. 

“Uh.. Ed?” Invex’s voice croaked before she cleared her throat. “I’m not too good with plants, but I’m pretty sure ‘warm and inviting’ is a red flag in nature.”

Eduardo rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know what that is. Belonging Birch. No animals come close, so it seems like a safe spot to rest but uh.. something about that light keeps you from waking up. You make good compost for the tree but I think I’d take my own cot over an early grave. ”

They both paused until Invex finally suggested what neither wanted to. “So assuming they’ve been here ever since they crashed, they’ve slept for at least 2 days, right? Why don’t we just leave them here and let nature run its course?”

Eduardo shot back a disapproving stare, to which Invex shot her own look right back. “Don’t act like you didn’t think it too. Besides, I was already prepared to kill them. Now I won't have to live with that guilt.” 

That reply only narrowed his stare further. “Even if I didn’t think that was heartless, you’re forgetting we’re still lost in the forest. That bird -uh- Imijaro wants them out of this forest and doesn’t wanna wait for exposure to end them. Last I checked, it's the one between the three of us that knows the way back the best. Besides, don’t you think it’s smarter to interrogate them? Find out if this is something bigger?”

Invex’s eyes drifted from Eduardo to the Imijaro to the ‘spaceman’ and back again until she gave in and groaned. “Alright, you’re right. Guess my fear’s clouding my judgment tonight. Sorry for going all ‘kill the outsider’ there.”

Eduardo wrapped his arm over Invex’s shoulder and gave a quick familial squeeze before he tousled her hair. His tense expression melted away. “Don't blame yourself. Stress makes people do crazy stuff.”  
  
Invex pushed his hand away before he could mess her hair up further. “-But **you** have to be the one carrying them. I’m not lugging some space knight around.” She tacked on.

Eduardo sighed and approached the unconscious foreigner. He knelt down to hoisted them up with a strained grunt of effort. With a few teetering false starts Eduardo eventually manages to keep them over his shoulder. “Next you’ll tell me they’re here from the moon to take revenge on the bone people.” He snickered.

Invex held back a laugh and just smiled and folded her arms. She looked away so she could pretend she didn’t find it funny. “Oh shut up. I just meant they’ve been _to_ space.”

Eduardo shakily paced back to his sister’s side and looked up to the Imijaro. “Sure, sure. Hey, little buddy! We got the stranger with us as you wanted. Could you show us back to the village now?”

The spirit clicked three times before swooping off the branch and past the three of them. “Back to the village now.” It mimicked.

Invex led the charge at a slow pace so Eduardo could keep up with the hefty cargo he had stowed over his shoulder. True to its word the Imijaro had them back at the village in under an hour. They emerged from the trees and felt comforted by the pitch dark cover that wrapped around village buildings. 

They still had to cut through the village without being found out, but at least they were home now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
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	5. Devider Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pair of interrogations are held in the dead of night, and a parallel of influence is formed.

**Act II | Scene II**

Invex and Eduardo only gave themselves a few moments to stew in the feeling of relief as they watched their shadow-hugged village. Its roofs were lit by the moonlight and the edges by the faint glow of the Mystryn forest. Invex pointed to the closest main road. “We should travel down the market stalls since everyone’s gone home for the day. That should leave us only a few houses to pass before we’re back at the apothecary.”

Both in agreement, the siblings trudge back to the road before entering their large village. Although the rustling of their prisoner’s plate mail made for a conspicuous return, Invex’s plan prevented that modest noise from rousing anyone out of the nearby buildings. Whenever it seemed like the Catalysian’s weight would tip Eduardo over Invex was there to catch him, although she continued to insist in whispered exchanges he shouldered the burden. 

Before long their single-story apothecary was in sight, its grand silhouette gave both siblings a gleam of hope in their eyes. They picked up the pace in an effort to get home that much sooner. Invex was already a stone toss ahead of Eduardo who slugged behind due to the stranger he carried.

She was just a house away from home when Invex turned back to check on her brother. His legs shook from exhaustion as he pushed on. When that felt difficult enough another complication made itself apparent as a silhouette just shorter than Eduardo held something circular high above his head. Invex couldn’t scream and alert everyone. All she could do was reach out to Eduardo in a vain attempt to close the distance and pull him away. 

The movement was enough to tip her brother off that something was wrong. Eduardo ducked to his right the same moment that circular object swung down. Eduardo took a solid hit to the shoulder and crumpled over to the ground in a pained wheeze he desperately tried to keep as quiet as possible. He and the Catalysian fell in opposite directions and Invex rushed forward. Her hand had already dipped low to access her spell dyes but in the moments that she tried to think of a spell to cast, something convinced her hand to drop entirely. Her pace slowed to a jog as she approached.

The dim moonlight only gave hints of who the assailant was but the distance had finally closed enough for Invex to realize who attacked her brother. Her skin was brown and she inherited a prominent rosy red undertone. Her pixie-cut hair -dyed a faded purple- soon became easily recognizable as the distance dwindled. A faded beam of light made her amber eyes shine like the reflective gaze of something dangerous hiding in the woods. In her hands was a large cast-iron skillet held by a determined grip that softened when she recognized Invex in turn. Her slimmer build went from guarded to spooked in an instant and she sheepishly lowered her ‘weapon’.

Invex stared on, baffled. She asked in a hushed voice. “P... Petrona?”

Muffled by the dirt, Eduardo joined in confusion. “Wuh.. Like the baker girl?”

He planted both hands and pulled his face free of the soft impression his head made and turned around to look up at her. “What was that for?” He whispered.

Petrona’s face grew hot with reactionary shame before she admonished herself with a hit to her forehead with her hand. “Ah fuck, I’m sorry Eduardo. You were carrying that.. person? It made you look like some hulking stranger stalking the place.”

Invex shook her head and readily forgave her. “Hey, it’s ok, it's an honest mistake.”

Eduardo sat up and clutched the spot Petrona hit him at. “Tell that to my honest shoulder.” He spat out.

This retort made Petrona’s brow twitch. “You wanna go, pretty-boy? I think I’ve got good reason to be on edge when this-” She points with her pan to the still-unconscious stranger on the ground next to him. “-is your midnight cargo.”

Eduardo tried to growl to match his agitation, but her point made too much sense. He simply conceded the point with a gaze down at the stranger. “Yeah, ok, you got us there. I dunno what to say, really..”

He held out the hand attached to his still-undamaged shoulder and Petrona had the common decency to help him up.

Invex stepped forward and spoke up. “I’m sorry Petrona, but we can’t really tell you what’s going on just yet. Can you give us a few days?”

Petrona cocked her hip against the knuckles of her free hand and shook her head. “What? No. I like you two and your weird family, but I am not about to be left wondering about whatever dark deeds you two are committing. Until I know what's going on I'm just gonna stress out about this during the Season Shift festivals.”

Invex’s tense smile buckled and she raised her index finger. “Could you give us just a moment to talk?”

Petrona sighed and turned to the side to give the siblings a moment alone. Invex pulled Eduardo aside and they mumbled between each other.

Invex started with her concerns.“What are we gonna do? I figured we’d interrogate the spaceman in the basement, but if Petrona tags along she’d see all the necromantic chambers and… there’s other stuff but that’s probably the worst secret she’d find.”

Eduardo’s lips pursed as he searched his thoughts for a solution. “Mmm, that’s a good point. We could probably use Ren’s meditation room in the first-floor basement. There’s nothing incriminating there. You remembered to set the illusion to hide the door to the lower level, right?”

Invex nodded. “Yeah… but what about Reneta? Doesn’t she use that thing daily?”

Eduardo smiled fondly. “Sure, but you know how she is about holidays, especially Phantoist ones. She’ll probably be out of the house before either of us wake up. It shouldn't be an issue if we have to keep the stranger there for a couple of days.”

They shared a few more concerns just to be sure. Finally, they pulled apart and turned to an impatient Petrona. “Well?”

Eduardo stepped forward. “You’re right, we shouldn’t worry you and we need the help anyway. Long story short, we found this person while searching for a meteor that we _actually_ found out was some kind of crashed metal pod. We think they’re from Catalys, but we don't have any clue what’s going on beyond that. We were going to question them in our basement. You’re welcome to join if it’d make you feel more at ease.”

Petrona’s brow raised higher through the entire explanation. “...wow. That all sounds insane. Still, that armor looks way too flashy to be made in this dinky village, so you might be right. If I can join I'll keep quiet- but I’ve got one more condition.”

She points at Invex with a toothy grin. “My family’s providing the meat pies for this year’s eating contest. I want you to enter, and if you win, the prize money is mine.”

Invex’s eyes widened and she pointed to herself. Her cheeks inexplicably warmed. “M-Me? Uh, I mean, yeah. That sounds cool and nice and... yeah, I can do that.”

Eduardo held back his eye-roll and just nudged his sister into some situational awareness with his elbow. He spoke up to cover her fluster. “Fine, you got your grift set up, can we _please_ take them inside now? I can’t do it after _someone_ injured me even further.”

Petrona responded with a proud chuckle and attached the skillet to the strap that went around her shoulder before hoisting the stranger up with both arms. “Good point. It’s a miracle no one’s heard us yet.”

Petrona’s sound logic were the last words they exchanged before the 3 teens entered the apothecary home. Invex led Petrona and Eduardo down a set of spiral stairs to the first-floor basement to a room towards the back. The room was small for most domestic purposes but just large enough to fit all 4 bodies comfortably. The stranger was sat on the pillow Reneta normally used for meditation and leaned up against the back wall. The stranger’s hands were bound behind their back and their sheathed sword was kept under Petrona’s heel. Eduardo lit the wall sconce near the door

Now that the moment for the interrogation was finally upon them, but none of them wanted to make the first move. Petrona broke the silence with a simple question. “How do you know the guy’s a ‘they’ anyway? Did you check their arms?”

The siblings looked at each other and Invex shrugged. “We don’t, but Master Meudra told us it was rude to assume who someone is.”

The answer led to a satisfied ‘huh’ from Petrona. “Was just curious. Anyway, I’m surprised they didn’t jolt awake when Eduardo dropped them. Are they under some kind of spell? ”

Eduardo bottled his frustrations with that memory and sighed. “We found them huddled up under a dangerous type of tree. Only saw drawings of it before today, but records say any traveler who falls asleep under its rays never wake up.”

Petrona looked between him, the stranger, and Invex. “So.. you two were gonna interrogate someone in a coma?”

Invex stepped forward and reached a hand in her pouch of components. “I doubt a tree could keep someone asleep forever, especially out of its range. I think they’re in a deep trance.”

She pulls out a thin bundle of sickly green herbs that makes its presence known immediately with a stench of sulfur and rot. All three are quick to squeeze their noses shut. “If I’m right, a strong sensory overload should wake them up.”

Neither Eduardo nor Petrona wanted to open their mouth to object, so Invex stepped forward and held the herbs under the stranger’s nose. In seconds their eyes began to water and soon their nose twitched. Their head tilted back and they gave a sudden sneeze before their eyes shot open, still watering from the herb’s smell. Invex stashed the component away and put her palm over their mouth before they could think to shout.

Finally awake and properly illuminated all three of them got their first good look at the stranger. Their face was pale but their cheeks were warm with color. Their navy blue eyes were separated from their pupil by a thin silver ring. Their round face was contrasted by the angular point of their nose and sharp, well-trimmed eyebrows. Their build, while still obscured by the armor, was clearly honed and bulky with muscle. They looked to be just cresting into their mid-twenties.

Their eyes moved in a panic between the three figures that had abducted them. Their eyes stopped on Invex at the sound of her voice. “We aren’t here to hurt you. We found you under a tree that was going to kill you. I’m going to remove my hand, and you **aren’t** going to scream, or I’ll shove those herbs up your nose so far you'll lose your sense of smell, okay?”

The stranger already felt a trickle of stressed sweat roll down the side of their head, but they gave a nod. Invex let out a sigh of relief and let go, using her thumb to help clean their eyes of tears before she pulled back.

The figure sat there in silence, waiting for them to initiate the conversation. When it became clear they were all too nervous to do so, the stranger cleared their throat to speak, their voice was smooth and hesitant and their accent hung on words that ended in G, D, or F sounds. “I.. don’t know what to say. Thank you for saving me? I am Decimel Devider, and I come from Catalys. How much do you kids know?”

Invex looked over to Eduardo who hobbled forward. “We know you didn’t walk over here. We found that craft you crashed into the forest. We’ve got a few questions. Why’d you come here in that thing in the first place? You aren’t one of those suicidal poets, are you?” A latent excitement clung to those last words.

Invex shot Eduardo an incredulous look. Decimal didn’t pick up on that exchanged cue and responded anyway. “Would you believe me if I said... Yes?” 

They batted their eyelashes innocently but Petrona stepped forward and used her foot to push the sheathed broadsword into view. “No poet I can think of wears armor and carries a sword. Stop bullshitting and give us an actual answer.”

Decimel’s shoulders shrunk inward and they broke eye contact from the group. “Okay, okay. Didn’t think that would work. I actually came here with my brother, Geometty. Everyone had heard about the poets trying to fling themselves into space. One day, the wreckage of one of those attempts landed behind our manor.”

Invex spoke up, her speech slowed as she tried to suss out the legitimacy of what they said. “You wanted to run away, and got inspired by the sight of a dead man in a failed attempt to do the same?”

They winced but kept going with a gentle smile. “I’m not good for much, but my dad always said I had a gift with numbers. He wanted me to focus on logistics and finances but I snuck in all kinds of engineering books with Geometty’s help. That month I used my one talent to draw a schema.. a schem.. a detailed drawing of what the wreck used to be. I saw what flaws it had, where it's amber placement went wrong, all of it.”

The three kids had varying levels of belief in this story, with Eduardo clearly the most drawn in. He spoke. “I can’t believe you took a failed crash and just. Got it right. On the first try.”

Decimel finally drew their eyes up and looked to Eduardo. For the first time since they woke they looked genuinely joyful. “Aw, it wasn't my idea! I just had the vehicle designed, It was Geometty who actually made it all possible!”

Petrona still held to her frown in distrust at the tall tale. “Right, right. So where’s this ‘brother’ now? You speak so fondly of him but he wasn’t with you when we found you.”

Decimel’s eyes shifted over to her and his smile twitched, thinning to a less enthused amplitude. “Yeah.. about that. When we landed, we had a bit of a fight. We came here to start over. He said we should split up, meet back at the pod in a day. Thought we’d find a town quicker that way. He won the argument. I went west and he went south. My heart just wasn’t in the plan though, so I found a comfy tree took a nap.”

Eduardo scratched his head. “...why not just return to the pod where you knew it was safe?”

The obvious question gave way to an embarrassing pause from Decimel before he finally broke itit with a bashful chuckle. “That’s why I wanted to stick with Geometty. He’s a better leader than me. Smart in all sorts of ways, too.”

Invex sighed. She couldn’t forcibly draw any secrets out with Petrona in the room, so the three had to rely on intuition alone. She didn’t even have a guess one way or the other. Before she could think to ask another question, Petrona spoke up. “Well, I believe them.”

Invex peered at Petrona. “Huh? Weren’t you just grilling them earlier about their flimsy story?” 

Eduardo shared in her confusion, to which Petrona continued confidently. “That was an act. Put a little pressure on someone and they squeal real quick.”

Invex looked at Petrona with surprise. She expected more reasoning than that. When it never came, she shrugged her shoulders. “What about you Ed?”

Eduardo caught Decimel’s eyes again and gave another stare in an attempt to judge Decimel's character. “Well, I got my own reasons, but I trust you Decimel. Mystryal isn’t hostile to outsiders so I guess I shouldn't be either, even if your sword is a bit concerning.”

Decimel took the growing trust in them with a small, comforted smile. "That's a bit of a boring story. Short of it is Geometty heard tales of the dangerous wilds, so he had me bring the family broadsword. It's an heirloom, mostly."

Invex swallowed her suspicions and ran a hand through her hair. “If you two believe them, then I guess do too.” 

Eduardo nodded with a smile that slowly grew alongside his optimism. “If you don’t have any ideas I think I know a solution that can get Decimel what they want.”

Petrona crossed her arms and tilted her head in interest. “What’s that?”

Eduardo spoke as he gently massaged his sprained shoulder. “A fresh start. We can give them a quick crash course- pun intended- of Mystryal and our culture so they aren’t completely unequipped. After that, they can search for their brother without any trouble from nosy people.”

Petrona looked down at Decimel. “It’s your fate. What do you think?”

They took their time to consider the offer but before long their concentration broke with a content expression. “I think that’s really generous of you. Once I find Geometty, we can take what you taught me and make a life for ourselves in a town nearby!”

The hopeful joy in their voice brought a smile to the 3 teens. Even Invex, who still kept an eye on them this entire time, felt that compulsion fade away. “Alright, but you’ll have to lay low until the Season Shift is over. People get emotional at the year’s end and while I doubt it’d be a problem, I don’t want to risk them getting confrontational over some offense you accidentally make.”

Decimel nodded. “Geometty wouldn’t leave me behind, so I can wait a few days.”

Eduardo continued. “They could stay at Fort Ascuas for the holiday. Sure, it’s just a bunch of planks tacked together, but the open space and the firepit should keep them safe from any beast spirits or predators that might cause trouble.”

Invex sighed and stepped over to Decimel to untie their bindings. “I had plans for the fort, but this is more important. Petrona, you know where it is, right? I need to take care of Eddie’s wounds.” 

Ed shirked his shoulder to face Vex. The sudden motion made him wince with a sharp inhale. He gently clutched at the spot for support. “You told her? But that’s like, _our_ spot!”

Petrona ignored the bickering atmosphere outright and helped Decimel stand up. “Cut it out. You two can fight _after_ you aren’t falling apart, but yeah, I can take ‘em there.” 

Eduardo grumbled as Invex extinguished the sconce. Decimel and Petrona walked out to let them recover from the night in peace. By the time they were outside Decimel felt chatty enough to speak up. “Thanks again for being so kind and understanding. This isn’t how folks act to strangers in my town.”

Petrona ate up the praise with a wide grin. “Yeah, I know, I’m pretty great. You sure your brother’s gonna be ok on his own, though?”

Decimel forced a smile and nodded. “Oh yes. He’s probably the strongest guy I know.” 

The question left a mote of doubt in their mind, though. Even as the two left the apothecary, they wondered how he was doing.

* * *

**Act II | Intermission**

Pulling back from the group, back downstairs and past the illusory wall and down not 1, but 2 subterranean floors held the Master’s secret chamber. A wide, expansive stone room housed various tables which purposes varied from note keeping to ritual development to animal and human examination. One wall of this lab had been dedicated as an altar to the Grand Spirit Nobody. Its foxlike head had was painted in black, a carved spiral held in replacement a face and it was surrounded by 9 burning torches. On the other side of the room were four cramped holding cells, but only one had a light that shined from the inside

In that occupied cell was a man chained in shackles that barely fit around his thick wrists. His albino pale arms hung from his restraints and the sweat from the torch-bearing down above him clung to the white hairs on his forearms. His arms led to broad shoulders and a rotund torso, all tightly contained in his dirty, buttoned beige tunic. His face was sharp, angular, and well-shaven. His hair was dyed black and came to just above his chin. Brown eyes stared at the ground as he ignored the chittering insistence of the odd spirit before him.

Annery had been busy listing off all the ways this captive would suffer if he didn’t speak, so enraptured in his own method of interrogation he had only just looked over to see the total disinterest in the captive’s eyes. “Another thing, if you don’t tell us how you got here, I’ll take your eyes out and- HEY! Have you absorbed even a word of what I’ve said!?”

The shout finally got him to tilt up and look at the wisp. He carried a blank gaze that only broke when he cracked a smile. His voice held with it an open tone of mocking. “No. But keep going. It’s real easy to think with all this background noise you spout.”

Annery’s toothy sneer grew and the scribbled shape that was his eyes grew dense and spun in place as he stomped around. “THAT’S IT! That’s fucking it! I’m done with you. I only came in here because the Master asked, you’re eating into my valuable dreaming time. I’ll let _her_ sort you out!” 

He marched to the door and phased through it, a trail of crackling purple energy left behind. The captive chuckled to himself. “At least the little thing helped me kill an hour.”

It’d be another half hour before the captive heard anything else. The door to his cell unlatched from the outside and an imposing, masked figure stepped through the cell’s threshold. She carried with her a large pack that his eyes were immediately drawn to. Meudra stood in the middle of the room and stared down at her captive who sat on the floor. He was still momentarily fixated on what she brought with her.

Meudra spoke up first. “My familiar was throwing quite the fit when I saw him leave upstairs. Mind telling me what you did what got him so worked up?”

The captive leaned his head against the wall and shrugged as much as his restraints would allow. “I just ignored him. Told him his little rant made for a nice ambiance to think. It does.”

Meudra sat along the simple bench and steeped her fingers together. “And what did you spend all that time thinking about?”

The captive stayed silent. It took a minute for Meudra to decide waiting further wasn’t worth it. “At least tell me your name.”

He sighed through his nose and finally looked up to her. “Geometty Devider. I suppose you also want to know where I’m from?”

Meudra fingers laced further together and she allowed herself a soft giggle. “Oh no, I know that already. That accent screams Catalysian. Possibly even western Catalys?”

Geometty’s nose wrinkled and his eyes turned away to help hide his inner frustration. Meudra continued her questioning. “Now what has me curious is how I haven’t heard even the slightest rumor as to some foreigner rummaging about in Mystryal. The.. community I’m a part of is built on extensive and discreet communication. The fact that no one has alerted the others to someone so well equipped as yourself makes me curious.”

Meudra slid to the edge of the bench closest to Geometty. “Do you know the saying about curiosity, cat?” 

Geometty kept his eyes away from her and his lips tightly shut in a committal to his resistance against her intimidation. Meudra’s hands unlocked and one reached for his jar, wrenching his sight onto her with a forceful yank. The nails of her thumb and middle finger began to dig into his jaw. “Do you want my curiosity to kill you, young kit? Will you return to me a shambling creature of reanimated flesh, or will my satisfaction keep you alive?”

Geometty’s breath shortened, even as he tried to continue his brave face. Meudra’s other hand slowly rose to her face, but the nonverbal threat only got so far as to let the fingers hover below her chin before Geometty’s voice finally broke free from silence. “Ok. If you’re so focused on it, fine.”

The hand on his jawline held but she let her hand fall to the side. Geometty returned his eyes down to the mossy stone at his feet as he continued. “I came here with another person, my sibling. They designed a craft that could fly us far, far away from home. I used my connections and a recent discovery of mine to make it a reality. We ran away to start something new.”

The grip she had on him finally released and her hands fell back in her lap. “A flying machine? Sounds preposterous, but I know Catalysians are always inventing preposterous things. Where is it now?”

Geometty continued to stare at the floor, but he found his way to a smile somehow. “Yeah, they’re pretty ingenious. Our craft didn’t really fly so much as it was flung out into space. Thanks to what’s in that bag we survived the crash.” 

That last detail drew Meudra’s shoulders forward with interest as one hand pulled the pack over. “Be careful not to abuse my understanding nature.”

She hefted up the pack, causing the contents to rattle inside. “These are shattered stones. I’m no expert in Mezmer, but amber and mercury are the main components.”

Geometty looked up and locked eyes with Meudra again. “What they used to be broke on impact. Just spill it out on the ground, and I can explain.”

Meudra put the pack down away from him which led Geometty to sigh. “They aren’t even magic anymore. Not after the crash. I’m just going to use my feet to point.”

A quick moment of deliberation led Meudra to undo the pack’s tie at the top and let some of the contents spill. Peculiarly shaped, smooth stones shattered in several pieces laid before Geometty. Most pieces had a shallow text of an unknown language chipped into the surface. He used the tip of his boot to point to a thin one with a circular hole before shifting it to another close in size. “These are fossils, bones made of rock from _something_ that died long, long ago. I’d tell you what they do but where’s the fun in all that?”

Meudra’s shoulder’s twitched but before she could express the anger she felt Geometty continued his thought. “I’d rather show you instead. My sibling and I landed in this part of Mystyral for a reason. The kind of site I found these at are a touch rare in Catalys. But in my research, I found a reason to think there's much more wherever those Phantosit spiritualists settle down.”

Before responding Meudra leaned forward and scooped the stolen contents back inside the bag. “You seem more willing than someone simply moved by threats. What do you expect in return for your cooperation?”

Geometty felt control slowly return to him and he led on with a thin smile. “I can recognize when I've been dealt a hand. I'm willing to play with it even if I don't like the cards. We’ll talk more about the details later. For now, I want a part in whatever it is you plan to do with my discovery. Not like you’ll know how to use it without me.” 

This offer drew Meudra into silence, even as she stood up and pulled out the key to unlock his manacles. Geometty rubbed his sore wrists and sat still as Meudra collected the pack's contents while she explained her choice. “Against my better judgment, I’ll choose to cooperate with you. You are disrespectful and far out of your depth, _but_ I can’t ask a zombie for expertise, now can I?”

Meudra opened the door and locked it behind her. “You will get a full breakfast come morning, and meals from here on out. I will be busy these next coming days but we will talk further soon.”

Geometty nodded in quiet contemplation. A thought made him rush to the door and he shouted to her. “Hey! Wait!”

The footsteps from beyond the door stopped. “If you hear of a liniegeist named Decimel, you tell me, alright? I need to know they’re safe.”

Medura’s voice called back. “I will.”

Her footsteps faded up the stairs and Geometty was left all alone to stew in mixed emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
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	6. Oath of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day is split between a ceremony of elemental magic and a fierce eating competition. A pair of promises are made. One that could be kept- the other that never would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning for this chapter:  
> *Discussion of Transphobia

**Act II | Scene III**

The night, as long as it feels, is not eternal. The moon slowly hid behind the horizon in pursuit of new nights and the sun’s chase of this day came in tandem. It's rays dawned across the entirety of life and began to stir the locals of Málaga awake. Although the dawn of day demanded it not everyone was so quick to rise. Reneta would find this out herself after she climbed out of bed to find both Invex and Eduardo deep in their slumber. Even as the summer morning warmth filled the room from the open window the pair snored softly. Her forehead creased in annoyance and she moved between their beds. She gripped their bedframes and shook with enough motion to release her frustrations. “I am _not_ about to be late to the first day of Season Shift. You two dolts best get over your waking fatigue quickly!”

Eduardo was the first to wake. He pulled up to a sitting position with a sharp inhale as the soreness of his torso hit him hard from the rude awakening. “Grands Ren, shake any harder and you might break something.”

Even with her sister’s efforts, Invex rustled to consciousness slowly. Her waking groan was soft and sleepy although Reneta’s attention kept to Eduardo. When she recognized he was in actual pain she withdrew her hands. “Oh... Sorry. What happened yesterday? I thought you two went to play pretend in that little fort of yours?”

He sighed and propped his back against the wall. “We haven’t ‘played pretend’ since Vex was 13. We went through the forest to search for that meteor I saw fall through the sky. Found a few new spots to mark on my ma. Although in the process we ran into a beast spirit. If it weren’t for Invex’s quick thinking I’d be in a lot worse shape.”

Reneta’s eyes lingered on Eduardo’s expression as he told the sanitized version of their activities last night. “Uh..huh. You uh, you two didn’t happen to _find_ that shooting star, did you?”

Invex rubbed at her crusty eyes and shook her head as she relied on her morning haze to help hide her lie. “Mmm, no. We found a cool spot for stargazing though.”

This response seemed to satisfy Reneta lips as they softened into a thin smile. “Well, you should be lucky you weren’t hurt further. I don’t know why you risk your lives for cheap thrills on the regular.”

Invex blew off the worry with a quick raspberry blow before she threw off her covers and getting out of bed. “We can’t be scared of the world forever, Ren. I know necromancers have to be careful, but I don’t see any point in living if you don’t enjoy it.” 

The groan that grew in the back of Reneta’s throat subsided as she made an intentional effort to breathe out her frustrations. “Regardless of what you do in the thicket, that’s not why I woke you up. We won’t have much time to eat breakfast if we want to catch the start of Spring Shift. I don't care much for the element of spring, but the day of water is important still.”

Invex got up and helped Eduardo out of bed and to his dresser. Reneta tacked on a smile as she continued. “Besides, I’ll need your help if we’re going to win this year’s scavenger hunt.” 

Ed responded with a soft bit of laughter. “You’re really determined after your winning streak was broken last year, huh?”

Reneta’s face grew hot and she turned from her siblings to hide the bashful curl of her lips. “Th-those brats cheated and I know it!”

The seriousness with which she insisted her streak was sullied made Invex and Eduardo tease her through the morning. So their day continued, and the celebration of spring long since passed was had. When the scavenger hunt was held, the trio had easily stomped every other group that participated. Their dinner was held in honor of their victory. Even Annery joined in the levity as he made crude wooden medals to pass out at the dining table. 

The next day Reneta had no need to forcibly rouse Eduardo, and instead Invex was the first the wake. She was up before the sun was and ready by the time everyone else had breakfast. Eduardo pointed his fork at her and spoke up with his cheeks full. “Arent you gonna eat?”

Vex shook her head. “Already had a bread roll after waking up. Besides, I’m gonna save my appetite for the big Gluttons Game at the end of Summer Shift. I still have that promise to Petrona to keep.”

Reneta’s ear’s perked up at that last sentence and a devilish grin curled her lips. “A promise, huh? Sounds like someone-”

Invex cut her off before she could insinuate any further. “It’s **not** like that Reneta. She just wants to increase the odds that she’ll win the bounty. I owed her a favor so I agreed.”

Her sister chuckled to herself and just kept her eyes on her meal. “Whatever you say, sparky. You know the rules though. Master Meudra says we have to stick together during the holiday. We’ll get around to the competition when it’s time, but no sneaking off for any ‘favors’ before then, got it?”

Reneta's last jab got a grumble out of her sister. Vex finished her cup of water and left the dining room. Her huffy voice came from down the hall. “Just meet me in the front room when you’re both done.”

Eduardo’s smile thins to take on a wry shape. “Still a stickler for Meudra’s rules, I see.”

She sighs in return and sets her fork in her bowl to better capture Eduardo’s attention as she locked eyes with him. “It isn’t always about her. I barely get to spend time with you two anymore. The only time I see Vex outside of lessons and meals is when we’re studying.”

The sudden complaint pulled Eduardo into a thoughtful pause. He swallowed his current bite before he responded. “I didn't know you felt left out. It'd helped if we shared more hobbies, but we can make more of an effort soon. Meudra’s been woking us to the bone for our upcoming project exam. After that, we'll have more time than we've ever had. I can even tell you how I made use of Ignatian philosophy the other day.”

The mention of their shared scholarly interest caught Reneta's interest as their eyes met. The eye contact wavered as doubt clouded her vision. “I guess I'm anxious. It just feels like something big is coming. I can’t explain it."

Eduardo looked down at his dwindling morning portion before he made up his mind and put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re right, we don’t include you as much as we should. How about I show you our little ‘fort’ after the test is over? I’ve got a surprise that you just _won’t_ believe.”

This promise piqued her interest. Reneta's curiosity paired with her genuine smile. “Thanks, Ed. I really don’t get how you ended up a necromancer. You’re just too kind.”

Eduardo shrugged and removed his hand to scoop up his bowl and dump the rest of the contents right into his mouth. He swallowed it all in one huge gulp before he let out a large belch. “It’s a curse to be this sagely, Ren. A curse I bear every day.”

Reneta covered her mouth and giggled while she looked away. “Eduardo! That’s gross. Kind or not you can’t just forget your manners.”

Eduardo simply pushed out of his seat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “No time to bicker. If we keep Vex waiting any longer I’m worried she might ditch us.”

Reneta looked back at her meal, took one last bite, and then stood up. “Let’s go.”

The two soon joined up with Invex and they all made their way out to the village square. Groups of people were out, abundant and merry. Red, yellow, and orange streamers hung between streets and market stalls. While some still house a traveling merchant or resident craftsman, most were repurposed and redecorated for activities of all kinds.

The trio slowed as Reneta pointed out a stall. It was putting on a puppet show about an old Phaontist legend. Inside the miniature stage showed two monks, using water and earth in tandem to stop flowing lava from leveling a hamlet.

Invex stopped them at a stand painted yellow with a simple archery challenge set up. With each missed shot she learned to adjust her aim. They didn't move on until Invex had spent half her monthly allowance but at least she could proudly claim to have hit 6 bullseye.

Eduardo's impulsive stop came when they noticed that an area of the market had been cleared repurposed as painting corner with easels and canvases. Eduardo dragged his sisters into the activity for at least an hour as he painted their likeness posed together. Silently, Invex wished Petrona had sprained the shoulder he used to write and paint, but the smile she held for the pose was still earnest and patient. 

The road filled with potential memories veered off towards the edge of the village. At its end, it fed out into a crowd gathered around a wide circle drawn in the dirt. The circle stood in front of a two-floor monastery. The intimidating structure was made of solid red sandstone, erected from the ground in a trapezoid shape. An attic on top was made of wood logs and a thatched roof. Eduardo looked over to Reneta, his brows pushed together. “Do you.. wanna check it out?” 

She nodded. “I can’t let my past keep me from enjoying my favorite holiday. Besides, if this is what I think it is you do _not_ want to miss out. Let’s get up to the front.”

With everyone on board the three swiftly and rudely pushed their way from the fringe to the front of the crowd where their sight was visited by a quad of dancers. They all wore dull, orange, hooded robes with the arms of their robes rolled up and the waist held tight by a rope dyed a vibrant yellow. The most notable feature of their outfits were the engraved bone plates that hung from their shoulders to their wrists; each piece was connected by a tough twine.

In the background, a group of monks in robes of differing colors sat on the stairs of the temple, all playing a fast-paced tune between their deep-pitched flutes and string instruments. The dancers not only moved to the tune but added to it. Their quick movements were accompanied by the percussive snap of hands, clicking of wooden shoes, and slapping of their hands and arms on various parts of their bodies, which made the bones rattle in rhythm with the beat in addition to the simple yet important noise their bodies made. On a very clear level, their bodies were as much as an instrument as the melody behind them.

For the majority of this dance, all 4 monks moved in unison and sometimes split into pairs. As their combined efforts sped up the song, however, one of the dancers split off from their group and continued, the other 3 now circling around them. Reneta’s hands furled tightly in anticipation. An overjoyed glint shown in her eyes as the dance led to its climax. The 3 exterior dancers clapped their forearms together before they spun inward and all let one arm out at the center. They gave a single snap in unison before their hands flourished open. From their palms shot 3 bright, concentrated beams of fire at the middle dancer. Half the crowd gasped- but Reneta wasn’t amongst them.

At a speed that slower eyes would miss the middle dancer, youngest of the four, clapped their hands together and spun on just one foot. Their outstretched hands sped past the 3 separate streams of fire and pulled them along until their motion formed a thick blazing ring. They firmly planted their foot on the ground. Their spin came to a halt as their arms swung upwards. Their arms and hands smashed into each other with a clap that cut through the roaring flames. In that same motion, the thick band of burning plasma shot upward in a spout of fire. It bulged to the shape of a teardrop at least 20 feet tall. In the shining light of their inferno, the silver, angular lines reflected brightly against their dark arms. The culmination of all 4 dancers raged intensely for half a minute before it slowly slimmed and dimmed to nothing but hot air. By now the 3 exterior dancers knelt before their youngest who stood still.

The crowd erupted in applause, although no one clapped prouder than Reneta Wolff whose smile tricked tears into slowly trailing down her cheeks. Invex looked over at her and noticed Reneta's emotional state. She nudged her on the arm. “Are you ok? I haven't seen you cry since... I can't remember a time you have.”

Ren nodded and stopped her applause to wipe her face clean. “I’m quite alright. Damn happy, actually. It’s rare to see people take the oath of fire, and I don’t think anyone here has performed that magi dance since I took my oath 3 seasons ago.”

Eduardo piped in, his face slack with disbelief. “You did _that_ when you were _fourteen_!?”

That praise gave Reneta enough ego to respond with a braggadocious cross of her arms. “Youngest the monastery ever allowed. Although Sage Celso had to twist some arms to make it happen. I'm destined to be a prodigy no matter what I do.”

Invex laughed in amusement at how quickly Reneta's tone changed at a chance to brag. As the crowd trickled away, a gravley voice unfamiliar to Invex and Eduardo spoke up from behind them in a clear cadence of disdain. “If we keep letting young fools perform that hazard of a dance we won’t have a village to dance in anymore.”

The purity of the moment Reneta basked in just seconds prior was cut with this voice. Her fingers twitched and she turned around to a tall, heavily bearded man in faded blue robes whose sneered picked up through his thick beard. “I didn’t expect to see you back here ever again, you blasphemous whelp.”

Reneta’s teeth poked out in her scowl. Her brows pushed together to hide the deep-seated fear that shook her uneasy eyes. “I.. I have as much of a right to stand here as anyone else, Gunther.”

He scoffed and let his arms drop. “That’s _Head Magi Gunther_ to you. Keep running your trap with no respect and see what happens.”

The old man’s venomous tone went no further as both Eduardo and Invex stood in front of Reneta, their shoulders tightly joined in a human shield. Eduardo spoke up in defense of his little sister. “Have to **what** , old man? Remember that Celso himself approved Reneta’s adoption from your monastery. You lay a hand on her and you’ll have to answer to both him _and_ our mother.”

The deep-set scorn on Gunther’s face held, but he made no move towards either of them. “You’re a lost cause, Reneta, and I don’t have the time to waste explaining why.”

Without giving the time for them to respond he pushed past the villagers to his side and moved to join his clergy at the other end of the crowd. Reneta’s brave face cracked the moment Gunter left and hurt tears wet her face anew. Invex noticed and gave a sympathetic frown while she held her sister from the side. “I’m so sorry he tried to threaten you, Ren. Let’s get out of here.”

Reneta used one hand to hide the shame creasing her features but nodded still. Invex locked arms with Ren and left the still-lingering crowd with Eduardo who trailed behind to keep an eye out, just in case. A short while later the trio sat under a large birch tree far enough away from the monastery. Invex and Eduardo sat on either side of Reneta, whose tears had largely calmed down by now. None of them had said a word yet and it was Invex who broke the silence with a simple, but important question. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Reneta considered for a moment before she spoke up. “Not ideally, but I think it’s important you two at least know why that all happened.”

Eduardo chimed in with what knowledge he did know. “Is it about why you left the monastery 5 years ago? We don’t want to pressure you into it if it's too painful…”

Reneta hook her head at the offer to stop. “I’ve come to terms with what happened by now, even if Gunther hasn’t. For people outside my faith, liniegeists are a 'middle' gender that has been around since forever. For Phantoists, it's not so simple. It’s a holy gender for us. They’re considered in tune with the neutral energy of the world, Talouw. The silver lines on their limbs are symbolic of the elemental leylines that run through the world. Sure, they can adopt other pronouns if it fits them but they're distinct from male or female. All it takes are those lines or silver-ring eyes and the world considers you a linie."

Reneta held up her arm which, unlike at home, had her sleeve tight around her wrist. "Because of these markings, I was given that role. I was expected to play it without question. Growing up I felt disconnected and angry, but I didn't know why. When I told the fire magi training me of my discomfort, she told me something I'd never have considered on my own. If I wasn't happy as a liniegeist I didn't have to be one. For a few peaceful months under her guidance, I found more joy experimenting with gender and fire than I ever had. But the more I started to find who I was happy being, the more that role birth gave on me hurt. Outside of a few trusted magi, my identity was a secret. After a full season, I couldn't take lying anymore. I came out. Gunther and the monks loyal to him didn't accept I found my own role. Toss that in with being a fire magi and living there that next year was torture. If it wasn't for Celso and Meudra…"

She sighed and started her sentence again. "If it weren’t for him and mom I don’t know where I'd be.”

Eduardo stopped her broody rant with a tight, one-armed hug and Invex joined in with both of hers. He sniffled as his own eyes teetered on tearful betrayal. “You don’t need to say anymore. You’re our sister and that all that matters.”

Invex nodded in agreement and the simple show of support cracked Reneta’s somber expression and the corners of her eyes watered. “Oh come on you two, if you keep this up I’m going to cry again, and then you’ll cry, and then we’ll just be this big sad sibling sack forever.”

Reneta's prediction of an emotional waterfall would have come true if it weren't for the sound of soft steps that approached them. A young woman in a flour-stained red apron slowed her approach when she noticed the state they were in. Petrona spoke an awkward cadence in her tone. “Did I.. come at a bad time?”

The siblings looked up at her voice. Reneta used the base of her palm to wipe her eyes. They all let go and the extended embrace came to an end. “No, you’ve come right when we needed a distraction most. What’s up?”

Petrona cleared her throat and held up a small meat pie in one hand. “I ah, came to see if Invex was ready for the eating competition, and to give Eduardo this.”

She tossed it over and Eduardo caught it with his unburdened hand. “As sorry for whacking you in the shoulder the other day.”

Eduardo perked up at the offer of free food and took the cloth wrapping off to start devouring his apology meal. “Mmm, oh, this is fantastic! Already forgiven, and I’m on the path to forgetting already.”

Reneta covered her mouth to laugh. Invex shot up as she eagerly made her way to Petrona’s side. Eduardo’s hungry compulsion drove him to devour the entire pie within moments. He leaned back against the tree with a content sigh. “Just what my aching body needed.”

Reneta got up next and offered her hand to help Eduardo up. It was only when he was already on his feet that she realized what he had just done. “Hold on, did you just use your busted arm?”

Eduardo stared at her, confused, before moving his left shoulder in a variety of directions with no pain or difficulty. “Hey, your right! My ribs don’t even ache anymore!”

Petrona watched the exchange with a cocky grin. “Following the Grand Spirit Haven includes learning a lot of boring farming and protective spells, but my dads finally taught me something useful last month. I made that pie with a healing ritual. From the way you're bouncing like a fool I can tell it worked. You’re welcome.” 

Eduardo turned back to her with a surprised sprinkle of laughter. “Ahah! Feels a bit weird to say this, after you whacked me in the first place, but thank you.”

Reneta coughed to catch everyone’s attention. “I hate to break up a chance to brag, I really do, but you two still have the Glutton Game to get to, don’t you?”

Invex and Petrona looked at each other and nodded. Invex spoke for both of them. “Before we go- are you two going to come cheer us on?”

Her sister shrugged. “ I know Master set a rule, but I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day, What about you Ed?”

Eduardo opened his mouth to speak but a yawn interrupted him. He rubbed his eyes. “Oh wow. So - _yawn_ \- so that’s the downside to magic food. I don't think I have the energy to stand much longer, let alone cheer.”

Reneta rolled her eyes and took her brother by the hand. “Guess we’ll see you tonight Vex.”

The two siblings left for home and the two close friends left the opposite direction back towards the heart of Málaga. The village square was bustling with people chatting about the upcoming competition. A stage had been erected in front of the building known only as the village center. On top of the stage was a table with six other contestants, mostly adults, all stout of stature. In front of them were large platters piled high with glazed sweet rolls. Standing at the stage’s edge was a beautiful older man with an olive complexion and long brown hair. When he spoke, his calm voice carried with an effective reach and cut the crowd's chatter to a minimal whisper. “Good Evening! As the sage of our village, I have many duties, but one I always anticipate warmly is hosting our yearly Glutton’s Game. A few more contestants _had_ signed up, but seeing as the sun won't be with us much longer...”

Petrona’s shout singled her and Invex from the crowd. “WAAIT!! You got two more, Sage Celso!”

The tight congregation of others parted so that only Invex and Petrona were easily visible. Celso peered at them until he recognized them. “I can’t exactly say no to the Baker’s daughter, who helped make this possible. Come up here and we’ll pull out the last platters we have.”

Invex felt the stares on them build in a sense of anxiety that bubbled deep in the bit of her stomach, but Petrona’s eagerness didn’t let her mind linger on stage fright. She pulled Invex by the wrist up to the stage where they sat beside each other on the edge of the long wooden table. A volunteer stepped out from the village center and placed two platters of heaving sweet rolls in front of them. 

Celso stepped to the side of the table. “I'll give a quick explanation of the rules. The objective is to eat as many rolls as possible, as fast as possible. If you upend your meal or forfeit, you’re out. If someone finished their platter before you, they’ve already won. The victor is granted with a fortnite’s worth of silver from my own earnings! ” 

The amount that was offered got a rush of whispers from the crowd. He looked to the contestants with hands on his hips and greeted them with a beaming smile. “Contestants, are you ready?”

No one objected, which he took as his cue to continue. “Place your hands on the table... Get ready... EAT!”

His final word spurred all 8 contestants into a feeding frenzy. Sweet rolls were consumed by the handful. Some of the adults didn’t eat their food so much as swallow it whole. While Invex and Petrona went at a ravenous pace neither were as fast as those in the lead. Although moments later it became apparent why. The largest contestant there looked up as her eyes shone in realization before she gripped the courtesy bucket under the table and kept her upturned failure from making a mess. Celso raised one hand and shouted. “Cici is OUT of the competition! Seven brave souls remain.”

Shortly after two others who outpaced themselves also gave in, although Cici was the only one who had to make use of a bucket. From there it was a challenge of endurance. A hairy man with hazy brown eyes tapped out next. With four people remaining, Invex could feel her stomach start to protest. She pushed onward and Petrona held in there with her. Neither went too fast but still held pace with their fellow contestants. A younger man stuffed his head in the bucket and had to be helped off stage. Only the three contestants at the edge of the table remained as they shoveled confectionaries past their lips. The once delectable taste became harder and harder to stomach. Just when Petrona thought she might need to tap the table in defeat, the gross sound of upchucked disgrace came from the last adult contestant.

Celso leaned into his announcement as the crowd cheered on. “Well fought Alejo! Now all that remains are our two last-second arrivals. However, only **_one_ **can take home the prize of a modest fortune.”

Invex and Petrona paused in that moment of realization. No matter what happened now, they won. While some may consider that victory enough, the eager flame in Petrona’s eyes belayed a different opinion. She turned back to her platter and resumed the destruction of her plate’s contents with a renewed speed. Invex saw the challenge and rushed to do the same. The chants of the crowd kept them both determined.

Petrona’s pile grew visibly smaller than Invex's but her faster pace became more difficult to maintain. She felt her gut grumble in pained protest. After another roll proved even harder she finally felt resigned and at her limit. She moved her hand over the table, ready to tap out.

Invex saw this movement slowly play out. She realized if she did nothing, she would win. She saw the content but resigned look to Petrona’s eyes. Invex didn’t give another thought as she quickly slapped the table twice to announce her resignation.

The crowd went wild with cheers and applause. Even Celso’s booming declaration was barely audible through the noise. “INCREDIBLE! The final push came down to our youngest contestants and it was a Baker herself who pulled out a victory! Petrona can put the sweet rolls up _and_ knock them down!”

Petrona looked over at surprise, first at Invex, then at Celso as he approached her, gently pulling her up by the arm and gesturing to her to give the crowd one last chance to applaud her efforts. She couldn’t help but smile in a grin wide.

The minutes that followed had Invex and Petrona helped off stage by Celso and another assistant, who escorted them away from everyone so they wouldn’t become so overwhelmed as to lose everything they just ate. They were sat at a table inside the village center meeting room. Celso had left to retrieve the prize while the two sat and wallowed in their own overconsumption. Petrona leaned back and held her stuffed stomach while Invex laid her face and arms down on the table. For a short while, the only conversation they shared were groans brought up by their mutual stomach ache.

Eventually, Petrona cast her eyes across the table spoke up. “Hey, I was wondering... did you throw that competition at the last second? I was about to give in, but it felt like you beat me to the punch.”

Invex rolled her eyes down in an attempt to avoid the truth. “What? No way, I just got so full. If I ate another bite...”

Her lie broke halfway and she gave a reluctant smile. “Ok, yeah, I did. You were going to get the prize money anyway, so I figured it wasn’t a big deal.”

Petrona threw her head back and groaned. “Come on, Invex. What’s the point of a competition if you don’t give it your all?”

Invex’s smile closed. A pang of guilt mixed in with her general indigestion to form a potent pain. “Ah.. sorry Petrona. Truth is, I don’t think I could’ve handled the attention. Or that glum look on your face.”

Petrona’s head tilted along the top of the chair to look at her. “Huh?”

Vex’s eyes still refused to look back, especially now that her face warmed a subtle red shade. “I know how you love winning and it would've been a close victory either way. I wanted to give you that feeling. To make you happy. It’s nice seeing you smile.” 

The bashful air in the room spread to Petrona and she felt her cheeks warm as well. She crossed her arms and threw on a snarky smile to hide it. “Don't get sentimental on me. I always have fun with you, you know that? ”

That response made Invex look up at her in surprise. “Really?”

Petron rolled her eyes. “Duh. At least around you, I don’t gotta feel like the homemaker my parents want me to be. It’s part of why I wanted to spend one last day of summer with you. Pretty soon the year will be over. When autumn rolls around I’ll be so busy making bread for the winter storage that I’ll barely be able to see any of you three.”

Her honest admittance hung in the room and curdled their young feelings of affection into something bittersweet. Petrona smiled, but it was paired with a troubled, distant stare of her pupils. Invex pushed herself upright and turned to face Petrona with a determined gaze. “Then let’s make a promise. Come next year, we’ll spend the entire Season Shift together. Something for you to look forward to and keep you going.”

Petrona's pained glare softened. “You willing to swear by those words, Invex Dial?”

Invex worked up a smile and offered a hand with her little finger outstretched. “I pinky promise it, Petrona Baker.”

Petrona's unsure smile lost to the sincerity of Invex’s offer. She wrapped her pinky around Invex’s as they shook once. “It’s a promise.”

They shared a moment of unbroken peace and stared at one another in appreciation of their bond. Just as they pulled their hands away the door to the room opened and in walked Celso with the promised sack of silver that bulged against the cloth seems. “Made sure to double count it, just to ensure I honored your victory Petrona.” 

He offered the prize money which only helped solidify this moment as a positive one as Petrona jumped out of her chair to accept it. “I could get used to hearing that. Thanks, Celso."

She looked back to Invex who took the hint and got up from her chair to leave with Petrona. The walls were much thinner than either thought and Celso looked with a knowing smile that said he had heard enough. He knew better than to say anything and simply let them keep their feelings silent. Celso gave them a wordless wave out the window as they left to their respective homes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoopZLoop  
> Tumblr: https://loopzloop.tumblr.com/
> 
> P.S. The dance style Fire Magi use is heavily influenced by Step Dance, and while I did my best to adapt it faithfully, I'd much rather disclose an actual example than just leave you with a white girl's rendition of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWshyyp8M3Y  
> 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a Kudos or a Comment if you enjoyed.


	7. Graduation Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a sudden downpour of rain cancels the remaining Season Shift festivities, Master Meudra moves forward with the anticipated spell exam, their last official test before graduation.

**Act III | Scene I**

The next day did not greet humanity with the same shining sun that it had two days prior. Instead, thundering clouds of grey blanketed the sky in a thick layer. By the first hour of the morning, droplets trickled from the sky. When the second hour rolled around the sound of heavy rain splattered against the ground. Reneta stared out the window of the apothecary storefront with a sullen stare and disheartened frown. Eduardo walked up beside her and put a hand on Reneta's shoulder. “Oh... I guess the Fall Shift isn’t happening this year. I’m sorry Ren, I know how much the end of the year means to you.”

Reneta sighed. “It’s not ideal, but at least I got to see someone take the oath of fire. I just don’t get it. I thought Invex used a forecast ritual to divine that we’d have clear skies for the holidays?”

Eduardo’s eyes dipped to the corner of the room as he avoided his sister to better hide what he knew. “Yeah.. weird. I’ll have to ask her about it later.”

Reneta stepped back from the windowsill and made for the back door. “No use moping about it. Master Meudra told us we’ll be resuming our curriculum right away. Come along Eduardo.”

He let his breath go in one relieved sigh as the secret was glossed over. Eduardo turned around and joined his sister. “Right, I should get my project ready. I know she’d chew me out if I wasn’t ready in time.”

The two siblings split off to their respective workshops in the second-floor basement. When they brought their supplies in hand they were surprised to see their slothful sister already in the classroom with her project laid out on her desk. She had a prideful smile that stretched from cheek to cheek. Reneta smirked as she set down a journal, a simple brown glove, and 2 bottles of dye. “Weren’t you asleep during breakfast?”

Invex shrugged coyly. “I missed a meal, sadly, but I wasn’t about to miss a chance to show you two up. Went straight to my workshop when I discovered the time.”

Eduardo gently set his supplies down; a fresh sheet of parchment, an empty bottle, mortar and mortar and pestle, feather pen, and a whole tray of dried plants. He peeked over at what Invex had prepared with a quirked brow. “Uh... Vex? Don’t you need organic components for most spells? What’s all this?”

He gestured to what was on her desk. Off to the edge were 5 pulsing, dull soul gems that Eduardo recognized as the possessed snake she bested days prior. In the center was a leather harness with 5 metal slots affixed to it- 2 on the shoulders, 2 on either side of the hips, and one at the center cross where 2 straps met. The most notable thing about the harness was the engraved text that trailed all along with the leather. Invex’s smile thinned. “I got the harness as a commission from the Tanner family- although obviously, I made the inscriptions. As for what it does, well, you’ll see in my presentation.”

Eduardo resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sat down at his desk. “Your theatrics will catch up with you one day. Still, I’m excited to see what mad thing you’ve come up with. You ready Ren?”

Reneta started with a single chuckle. “When am I _not_ ready? I’m more worried about your grade.”

Eduardo waved off her concern. “Come on, you doubt me too much. I’m not worried about passing one way or the other. I’m proud of my spell regardless of what Meudra thinks.”

The trio continued their back and forth until the door opened with a creak that silenced the room. Meudra walked in with her usual reserved grace and Annery trailed behind her. He scampered quickly to keep up with the pace of someone twice his height. Meudra stopped behind her desk and turned to face Invex, Eduardo, and Reneta who all looked back in respectful silence. Annery’s claws gripped the edge of Meudra’s desk. He gave a grunt of effort before he hoisted himself up over the edge. His eye line was now more or less equal to that of the humans in the room.

He spoke up. “Alright, brats! You know how important this day is.”

Annery spun around and plucked the white chalk at his feet to write on the blackboard behind him. He wrote in as best quality as he could ‘SPELL EXAM’ with a series of underlines to emphasize its importance. “You’ve had three months to work on a necromancy spell of your very own. Now the Master and I will be judging you based on originality, spell stability, and practical application.” 

Meudra put a hand on top of Annery’s spherical body to stop him from going on further. “Thank you, Annery. I’ll take it from here.”

Annery reluctantly closed his mouth. Meudra sat on the desk's corner and addressed her 3 pupils. “You are all aware of the hard work and dedication needed to get this far. I’m sure you’ve had your suspicions, so allow me to confirm them. This is intended to be the final exam. Passing today will mark your official graduation from apprentices to necromancers. Once you’re able to make spells of your own your need for guidance dwindles year after year. It won’t be long before you’ll have no need for my expertise at all.” 

Meudra paused as she pulled her long brown hair into a ponytail to keep stray strands from falling in her face. “Considering how important this test is, I will not be dealing with letter grades. Annery has had input on your grades in the past, but by the end of your presentations, I have the final say on whether you pass or fail. Failure means another year of apprenticeship under my tutelage. Do you all understand the stakes?”

The 3 siblings shared an uneasy look between each other before they all turned back to their master. Reneta spoke for all of them. “We’re ready, Master Meudra. I’d even be willing to go first if you didn’t have an order in mind?”

Meudra looked back to Annery, who only had a shrug to offer at the suggestion. “Very well. Bring your project up to the front and show us what you’ve worked so hard on.”

Reneta took a deep breath to steady her thoughts and carefully carried her supplies to the front desk while Annery stood on the desk's edge to keep a close eye on the presentation. Meudra walked to the side of the room to observe from a distance. 

Reneta held up her right hand. The religious symbol for the element of fire was tattooed onto the back of her left hand. “I hold my beliefs as a necromancer and phantoist hand in hand. Early into the project, I decided my spell should reflect that.”

She paused to open the corked bottles of dye. She pulled a brush from her pouch and dipped it in the bottle of bright orange dye. As Reneta continued she painted a sentence on the back of her hand. The written incantation trailed across the edge of her religious symbol. “Normally, Tasi-Magi requires intense focus and a dedicated dancing form for any practical use. Even a master, who could theoretically cast a spell while harnessing an element, is so far along in their dedication to Tasi-Magi that they haven’t had the time to learn mysticism or necromancy.”

Reneta finished with her first application and wet her brush in the bottle of dull red dye, which she used to color in the elemental symbol. “But I was inspired to find a workaround. What if we could bypass the mastery needed to effortlessly conjure fire? Flames have been tied to Nobody ever since the Scorching, so it stands to reason our Grand has access to the secrets of fire as well. With the right magic words and minor preparation- I can lend control of my hand over to Nobody and let it summon fire with the ease of a head Magi."

She picked up her glove and carefully slid it on her right hand, applying pressure to the back of her palm. “I just need to wear a glove to protect the inscription and all it should take is thought to start a small flame.”

Reneta let her arms fall to her side. She closed her eyes as her brows creased close together. In the next moment, her right hand came up with an involuntary slap against her opposite shoulder before outstretching. Her thumb moved in a lighting quick pass against each of her four fingers which caused a soft snap with each digit. Her hand splayed outward and from her palm, a 4-inch spout of fire burst forward. Despite Reneta’s still body, her flame persisted at that same intensity and size indefinitely. The only movements her fingers made were slight, precise twitches to keep the flame alive.

With a prideful grin, she looked back at everyone. Annery, for all his quips and cynicism, was silent. Eduardo looked on in stunned impression if his slack-jawed look was to go by. Invex rubbed at her eyes just to confirm she wasn't seeing things. 

Meudra's pause was the only indication that she was impressed. “You’ve clearly put a lot of time into making this work- and it’s important for me to recognize just how impossible a feat this would be considered for most. As far as the practical application of such a spell goes, I need you to prove your claim. Cast another spell. Doesn’t have to be complex- it doesn’t even have to be necromancy. If you can keep the fire going, you pass.”

Reneta’s pride chipped along with her smile and she took a deep breath to steady her resolve. “Of course. I don’t have many supplies here, but... Oh! Can I use a bit of wood from your desk? I could create a wisp.”

Annery’s claws furled together- but Meudra spoke up before he said anything. “You may.”

Reneta pulled out her ritual dagger before carving a thin circle on top of the desk about a foot in diameter. With a sprinkling of general-use purple dust, Reneta leaned down and whispered something into the circle. Within seconds the circle she carved peeled off the desk and curled with the faint noise of ripping wood until it formed a tiny ball sprinkled in the glowing purple dust. The wood slowly disintegrated into a translucent, cloudy lump that glowed dimly. It drifted up and idled in mid-air. Reneta took an anxious glance to her right hand. Her flame still burned brightly. A wave of relief brought her smile back stronger than before.

Meudra, finally content, rewarded her pupil with a slow but commanding set of claps. “I had my doubts with how long you stalled, but I’m sorry to ever had had them. You’ve passed- and by no small margin either.”

It wasn't for the euphoria of those words Reneta might have fallen over from the stress finally leaving her body. Instead, she shook her hand until the rapid movement extinguished the flame, collected her supplies, and quickly sat back at her desk.

Meudra’s mask-hidden expression turned on her remaining two pupils. “Who’s next?”

Eduardo shot up and carefully carried his project to Meudra’s desk. His introduction came with a tone that bordered on giddy. “It’s no secret that I haven’t excelled in our conventional studies. Not to say Im not passionate, but our core material never clicked with me. At first, I was at a loss for what to do with this project. I procrastinated, I scrapped idea after idea, I-”

Meudra interrupted by clearing her throat. Eduardo’s shoulders twitched, but he continued on. “Anyways, when I was taking care of the garden one night, inspiration struck.”

He gestures to his messy setup of project supplies. “I've found a way to foretell someone's future through poetry!”

The silence that followed hung around Eduardo's neck like lead. Annery stamped his tiny boot against the desk in objection. “Come now, Eduardo. A simple forecast spell!? Any babbling Trust mystic can tell you the weather or how your day will go. You assured me you were going to take this project seriously. Do you _want_ to fail?” 

Eduardo’s pleasant expression cracked at this harsh dig at his project. He slammed his fist down on the table as he shot back. “I don’t **need** your comments, puffball. I pulled so many sleepless nights researching different ink mixtures and if that's not good enough for you then-”

His outburst came to a halt as he felt a tall shadow envelop him. Eduardo looked to see Meudra standing above him. Her mask-blank expression bore down on him with her piercing brown eyes. “You are both acting like toddlers. If you’re done with your bickering, I won’t fail you here and now.”

Eduardo's mouth slowly closed as he met her eyes with a mortified gaze. 

Meudra's harsh glare softened. She pointed to an object Eduardo had tucked in the sleeve of his shirt. “Good. Now- I would assume that the syringe you’ve hidden is used for the spell?”

Eduardo swallowed nervously and revealed what he had hidden. “Ahaha... Caught me, yeah. I need blood for the person whose fortune I’m going to tell. I was going to use my own.”

Meudra shook her head and rolled up her sleeve to offer her forearm to prick. “For me to verify your claims, It’d be easier if it was my own forecast.”

He knew there was no point in arguing. He sighed and nodded before he pulled the syringe from his sleeve. A short moment later he lined up the needle precisely and pricked her skin. He extracted her blood until the thin syringe was half-full. Eduardo laid the material next to the thin tray of leaves and roots. In a mall handful of moments, he crushed and ground the plants together in a specific order. Eduardo poured the dry, flakey, reflective contents into the empty ink bottle. He took the syringe and emptied his teacher’s blood into the bottle and corked it. He vigorously shook the contents for a full minute until it glowed a brownish-red hue.

Eduardo set the bottle down, pulled the cork out, and picked up his pen. He gave it a short dip in the blood-ink mixture, held it over his open palm, and recited his prepared incantation. “That which holds the secrets of all so tight, be my muse and complete this rite- overtake my body, the future we will write.” 

The last word left his lips and a faint sizzle came from the tiny pool of ink in his palm. The ink quickly evaporated into a thin smoke before rising up directly into his eyes. Eduardo let out a gasp of pain as the slurry of chemicals burned at his eyes. When the excess ink was gone fog completely covered his sight and his exhale in agony stopped short. His shoulders slumped limp and his face stared down with a slack-jawed, lifeless expression. Annery stepped forward to voice his concerns. “Shouldn’t you step in Master? He’s not moving.”

Not a second more Eduardo’s hand came to life in a flurry of movements. His body wrote a poem that his lips spoke word for word.

“Two great and terrible clouds roll in together,

but you need not worry about the stormy weather;

the umbrella of your cause keeps you dry.

When you reveal your mask to the crows that follow,

you only need one to stay for your desired tomorrow.

To empower your puppet and keep it close,

find that hallowed ground where earth churns continuous throes.

It is hidden by the monks and found where Warmth points in the midnight sky.”

Eduardo's poem was done and no more lips left his word but his hand kept moving regardless. The same last word, over and over again. Every time, his handwriting worsened until the word ‘sky’ was barely legible. Meudra stared on with fixation as she ran the words through her head. Invex shot up out of her seat. “Master! The forecast is over, snap him out of it already.”

Her shout brok Meudra from her analysis. She cupped the back of Eduardo’s head. From somewhere inside her gown she smudged a plain gray shade of paint against her palm and pressed it to his forehead. 

She muttered a simple-word incantation. “Release.”

A crackling noise came from under her hand until the fog that covered Eduardo’s eyes lifted away. He fell unconscious but his chest rose and fell at a steady pace. Meudra slowly lowered his head and turned to her other students. “He’s stable, although I sincerely suggest he hold off on attempting it again until it's modified for safety.”

The sisters let out a simultaneous exhale as the room’s wound-up tension finally released. Reneta wiped the water from the edge of her eyes before she made her way to the desk. “I should carry him to our room. He needs some rest, and someone to keep an eye on him should he wake.”

Meudra nods. “Sensible idea. When he wakes up, do let him know this: he’s passed.”

Reneta’s lips peeked into a smile and she nodded. She then scooped her brother up and carried him with a strained face out the door. Only Meudra, Annery, and Invex now remained.

Invex let her eyes wander across the paper still left to lay there. “What did that poem mean, anyway?”

Her teacher rolled up the parchment and went back to where she stood before. “Nothing to concern yourself with. There was enough truth in his words for me to know his spell worked, that’s all that's important. Speaking of which- I believe it's your turn, young kit?”

Invex continued to stare hard at now-hidde prophecy as if it would make a difference. Before she could test her master’s patience she nodded and wordlessly took her project to the front desk. Invex nervously smoothed out her tunic and went over the words she had prepared one last time in her head. “The biggest taboo necromancers are associated with is human sacrifice. Spells that require the release of the human psyche are the reason why the hunt for our kind continues today. I do not want to spend the rest of my life scurrying the dark like a mouse.”

Invex kept her speech going with a confidence in her voice that grew as she put her harness on. “If necromancers had no need for human souls, think of our new path. One that leads to open communication between necromancers and everyone else in Mystryal. If Reneta could teach her knowledge to fire-magi across Mystryral I couldn’t begin to imagine the ingenuity that’d spring up, and that'd be just the beginning. That’s why I’ve worked obsessively these past 3 months over this invention. I know you said we needed a spell, but if you'll follow me to the end of my demonstration I think you’ll agree this is something much better.”

Meudra tapped a finger against her forearm but made no objection as Invex slotted the 5 soul gems into her harness. “In safer test spells I've found that Nobody seems to make no real distinction between the psyche of a human and of a spirit. Humans have a more powerful psyche than most spirits but that potency is the only difference to it. All you need is to keep the soul gems affixed to a person and Nobody sees no difference between your mind and what you're wearing.”

Meudra gripped her upper arm and her voice took on a rare grit in her tone. “And if your spell backfires? Do not throw your life away for a student project.”

Invex shook her head. “No, no. The enchantment on my harness is for protection. It prioritizes these gems for consumption. If a strong spell were to go wrong or run out of fuel, it just fails partway through.”

Meudra’s grip slowly loosened and she sighed. “Go ahead then.”

Invex pushed through her master's doubt. She whispered her incantation with a muted crescendo that ended in a hushed shout. “That which doesn’t live and cannot be seen, take this life and control the reflection of their being!”

Invex threw her hand, outstretched, behind her. A chill fell down her shoulders. Meudra watched Invex's shadow that previously flickered wide against the wall hold perfectly still. On each gem attached to her torso a small crack formed. Invex dragged her hand right and the shadow followed. Invex let out an uneasy and excited chuckle. “It’s.. it’s working. I've tested spells needing a milder sacrifice, but nothing requiring a full life.”

The edges of Meudra’s face visibly creased in a way that hinted at a smile. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen someone cast shadow stalker on a living person, but controlling lights is only proof of simple illusion-”

She points over to the chair Reneta was in minutes ago. “-have your shadow hold and _lift_ the chair. If it can do that much- you’ve proven your mettle enough.” 

Invex’s shoulders scrunched together and her brows folded against each other in worry. “I.. haven’t thought to test that, but I’ll try.”

She curled her fingers forward and the shadow stalker drifted along the wall closer until it got to the middle of the room where the single row of desks sat. Her movements carefully commanded the shadow stalker until it was a simple circle underneath Reneta’s chair. She closed her fist tight and lifted her hand. A thick curtain of shadow enveloped the chair from the bottom up until it was just a silhouette of furniture. It raised into the air in a wobbly, unstable fashion.

For the first six seconds, the chair held still in the air. Then, one by one, each of the gems in her harness made an audible snap as their cracks grew around the entire length and exploded into dust. The chair tumbled onto the floor and Invex's shadow retreated back to its rightful owner in an instant. Her hopeful smile crashed along with her spell’s release. She coughed and waved the dust from her face. The particles were harmless but insulting all the same.

Dread and shame hit her so completely that everything else in the world fell away. She felt that she was standing there, alone. As she spoke to herself tears built up in her eyes. “I... It' didn't work. I toiled for so long. All that effort, and I’m just a failure.”

She sniffled. Her face twitched in that telltale sign that sobbing was soon to follow. Before her breakdown could wash over her completely she felt cold and comforting hands on her face. A soft shushing came to her in a familiar voice which slowly brought Invex back. Meudra’s masked face looked down to hers. Her expression was still inscrutable but her eyes shone softly on her student. “No pupil of mine could ever be called a failure. You are living proof of that young kit.”

Invex rubbed her eyes of tears while her teacher went on. “Your invention didn’t work perfectly, but you are not to blame for that. Three months is only enough for a prototype of a spell. The truth is, even if it could have worked, it wouldn’t have solved the problems you mentioned. The world above doesn't want us- and it will never accept us for our brilliance. They can be kind, but only from a distance. It's why our loyalty to one another is so important."

The harsh words of Meudra's reality sunk into Invex uncomfortably, but the sting of her viewpoint softened as Meudra brought her in for a hug. "The ingenuity you showed by even going halfway is astounding. I believe you’ve proven your mettle. You pass.”

Invex swallowed to avoid choking on her own words. “R-really?”

Meudra let the embrace go and pulled her hands back. “Yes. An Internal Sage I met once said: progress isn’t just what we gain from success, but what we learn from our failures too. Heed my advice and learn from today."

She gestured to the door. "Go check up on Eduardo and Reneta. I’m sure they’d like to hear the good news.”

Her student found a weak smile. Invex had barely the time to process any of what Meudra said but she was grateful to have passed. “Thanks, Master.”

She left for her bedroom without another word. Her footsteps slowly faded until they were inaudible and Annery finally spoke up with a grumble. “You’re too kind to those kids. You haven't changed your plans for them, have you?”

Meudra looked at the wrinkles in her hand. "It's impossible not to change a little when caring for 3 kids, but don't misunderstand me. Nothing keeps me from my goal. You are proof of that, Annery Cadiz."

Annery’s hands balled up involuntarily and his eyes dragged away from his master. “...I should go get the prisoner’s breakfast.”

He didn’t wait for a response and quickly left for the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! If you want to stay up to date with new chapter progress, want to support a free story, or in general are curious about any extra lore tid-bits I'll drop, follow me on Twitter and Tumblr!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoopZLoop  
> Tumblr: https://loopzloop.tumblr.com/
> 
> Don't forget to leave a Kudos or a Comment if you enjoyed it.


	8. Going Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three freshly-graduated siblings get to experience the greatest ceremony Necrosits have to offer: the Convention of Nowhere.

**Act III | Scene II**

It was a temperate autumn evening just a few days into the new year. By that morning Eduardo awoke to find his illness from the exam’s sudden turn was gone. Master Meudra appeared almost giddy by the news, although she wouldn’t elaborate on why. After the apothecary closed for the night Meudra collected everyone and met in the siblings’ bedroom. 

Annery stood on Reneta’s bed as he tapped his foot with irritation. He held his hands open to Meudra with his usual shrill tone. “What do you mean I gotta babysit these kids? What are they in danger from? Wetting the bed?”

Meudra chuckled. “Now that’s not what I meant. This is a very important night, and all 4 of us will be unable to wake if, say, an intruder stumbled into the lower basement. We’d have to rely on someone to keep the apothecary’s secret.”

The appeal to his ego made Annery pause. He put his claws together in thought. “So I’m the first and only line of defense for this home’s peace and safety, is that right?”

His master crossed her arms. “Now you’re getting it. I know you like to tinker. Set up whatever alarms or defenses you think necessary.”

Annery’s mood swiveled into enthusiasm as he rubbed his hands together. “If that’s the case you’ll have nothing to fear while I’m in charge, Master. I’ll go get started on the traps.” 

He let loose a cartoonish chortle as he hopped off the bed and out of the room. Reneta watched the wisp scamper as her brow creased in confusion. “Master Meudra, we still don't know what’s so special about tonight. Where are we going?”

Meudra turned to address her three pupils. “I should have led with that. I wanted to be sure Annery knew his role first, he can get a pinch impatient.”

Her tone rose in softness as a rare moment of unshielded pride tagged behind her words. “After passing your final exam, you are all fully-fledged necromancers. This means the three of you are invited to the single biggest gathering we have. It’s held yearly, as a way to reconnect with far friends, make new ones, and exchange information as though it were currency.”

Invex’s lips perked up in a smile. Her legs swung gently under her bedframe. “We’re meeting others? Others like us?”

Meudra nodded. “You will likely be the youngest necrosists there, but you will still find plenty-a-practitioner. Every year newly accredited necromancers get to experience our intellectual convention for the first time. I’m sure you’ll find other bright prodigies.”

Eduardo scratched the back of his head and looked out the window hatch. “It sounds cool but what about safety? How do we get to a discreet location where necromancers from across the country flock together in just one night? What if someone is trailed?”

His teacher waved away the concerns and pulled open the satchel she had with her. She procured multiple incense trays and a small stack of incense powder. “I think you misunderstand, Eduardo. We’re not going anywhere.”

She placed the supplies down and paused with a finger against the chin of her mask. “Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say we’re going Nowhere.”

Eduardo’s neck slumped into his shoulders as his eyes trailed back to her. “...huh? I’m not getting the wordplay Master Meudra.”

Reneta’s eyes lit up in recognition and she was quick to throw in her theory. “Are we using mysticism to cause a shared vision?”

Meudra’s cheeks peeked past the mask with a smile, shook her head again. “Close. Think of Nowhere as a... contained dream. It’s a spell cast once a year. It’s maintained the entire night by a powerful set of necromancers so that anyone with the right ritual can join. In Nowhere we are free to converse and engage openly. Our worship and research have long since been pushed underground. We’ve had time to adapt.”

Reneta and Invex both had their shoulders bunched and brimming with excitement. Even the reluctance that troubled Eduardo’s brow was gone. He sighed. “With such extreme measures, I’ve got no more doubts. Is the ritual complicated?”

Their master answered the question wordlessly. She filed each tray with a handful of powder and placed it on the nightstands that sat next to each bed. “The mixture of incense needed is very precise, but other than that, all you need to do is draw Nobody’s symbol on the backboard of your bed and let the scent do its work.”

Anticipation buzzed so strongly between the three siblings that any further questions fell away as they all quickly readied themselves for bed. The sedative smoke quickly filled the room. In the few minutes it took to change into their sleepwear they could already feel a malaise take over. It soon pulled them all into a deep sleep.

At first, all they were cognizant of was the void. The absence of sound, touch, body, smell, and warmth. For any who failed their preparation of the ritual, this is all they would experience for eight hours. This coalesced nothingness didn’t last long for the four of them though. The first thing they all recognized was that same scent that brought them here. Then sight was introduced as 9 roaring blue flames popped into view. That anchoring vision slowly spun in the distance as a uniform circle. 

A wide, thin plane of grass drew itself into existence 100 feet under the flaming circle. It curved slightly to mirror the central ring. From that plane, grassy pathways shot out from either side. These paths splintered off into their own smaller platforms. The more this location grew, the more apparent it became that any piece of geography wrapped around to face these nine sacred flames. A luscious platform of green grew under the four of them where this sight took place from. They could see now that the grass pulsed a soft, bluish hue.

Their bodies finally came into feeling. Eduardo looked over his hand while Invex and Reneta looked at the others to confirm that their arrival was a success. Everyone made it. Soon the avatars of every other necromancer popped into view with each new blink. Soon the original platform was filled with stalls, tents, and the humans that walked between them. Some talked in private in the small branching path rooms but the largest crowd, easily in the thousands, openly conversed in that main plaza under a giant structure of stone.

Meudra still had her mask on even during this sacred event. A rare moment of warm laughter spills past her lips as Meudra spun and held her arms wide. Her momentum slowed until she stood next to her pupils. Her laughter faded with a content sigh. She knelt down and her hands fell on the shoulders of Reneta and Invex. “Oh, forgive my dramatics. It’s been quite some time since I saw someone’s genuine first reaction to Nowhere. Your amazement is simply refreshing. Is everyone ok? All their senses work correctly?”

Reneta stood up and her siblings soon followed. Eduardo moved his arms just to check a final time before he nodded. “This is pretty bizarre but nothing’s broken.”

With no worried objections, Meudra’s eyes fell onto her star pupil. “One last thing. You might want to roll up your sleeves, Reneta.”

She looked back at her teacher as her lips curled in discomfort. The feeling melted away as soon as her forearms were laid bare and it was revealed that her sliver-marked limbs were now clear of any lines. Her tension burned into excitement as she walked over to Eduardo and shook him gently. “Eddie, what about my eyes? What do you see?”

Eduardo leaned back, overwhelmed by her energy. “The silver linie rings are gone, Ren.”

Reneta’s smile grew wider. She let his shoulders go and felt content to bounce in place with an energetic hum. Meudra spoke up to explain. “Long time ago, I used my influence in the necrosis community to ensure the avatar that each guest arrived in matched the form they’d be most comfortable with. Even back then I had no need for it, but I consider it an important step to creating an environment where no one felt the need to keep secrets.”

Eduardo wrapped his arm around Reneta’s neck and held her close. “If it gets Ren in this good a mood it can only be a good thing. Since we’re officially necromancers, do we still have to follow your lead?”

Meudra’s eyes visibly rolled in the mask’s slits. “You make it sound like I want you all to carry me. I’ve my own business to tend to and I brought you here so you could share in your own experience. As long as you stay with each other and regroup for the official assembly in a few hours, this night is yours. Enjoy this freedom and drink headily from it, we only get it once a year.”

Without waiting to be dragged down by any further questions she left their platform down the hallway. Within moments they were alone with nothing in front of them but a winding, imaginary path. Reneta stared at it all in wonder, Eduardo stood with a big goofy smile just by the shared excitement in the chamber, but it was Invex who finally nudged them all with a clear of her throat. “We could keep basking like toddlers at a torch, or we could go down there and experience it for ourselves. Come on!”

She turned out onto the path at a sprint. That spurred her siblings to shake off the shock and awe to follow her out into the main platform. Their bright-eyed fervor caught them a few long glances from more veteran necrosists but that was the only judgment they received. For one magical night, they could shed the shroud of secrecy and wear their passion without persecution. 

They were so excited that they lost sight of their own footing. A simple trip led one sibling to step on the gown of the second and pushed the third, Invex, forward. She stumbled pace after pace and managed to remain upright long enough to bump into someone, a tall and stout figure. She turned around to face Invex. She was a bald, bearded woman with dark circles under her hollow eyes. Her gaze and imposing stature made Invex shrink. Eduardo stopped and quietly joined, as did Reneta behind him. It was the stranger that broke this silence. Her voice carried with it a somber neutrality. “You.. all look very young. You aren’t apprentices, are you?”

Invex stepped forward and found enough focus inside herself to speak clearly. “Not since last week. We’re aware we’re an oddity. Master Meudra told us as much.”

The necromancer’s lips perked to a barely noticeable smile. “Huh.. I haven’t heard from Meudra for a while now. I guess this was why. She’s an old friend of mine.”

The woman allowed herself a chuckle. “If I recall she still owes me a favor.”

She offered her hand to Invex. “Perhaps it was good luck that brought you to me. My name is Dimm. I have a small lesson I was about to teach. I think you’d benefit from what you could learn.”

The group’s posture immediately relaxed and Invex accepted the offer to shake hands. “I’m Invex, and these are my siblings, Eduardo and Reneta.”

Reneta stepped out from behind with her introduction. “-It’s nice to meet you. The master never talked to us about her life outside our village, and I’m curious to see who she made friends with.”

Dimm nodded. “That sounds like her alright. Come with me then. All I ask is you don’t mention my name.”

Eduardo shrugged. “It’s your boundary to set. Can I ask why though?”

Dimm made an effort to emote with a closed grin as she pulled up the hood of her cloak. With it, Dimm’s face disappeared and showed only an empty shadow holding up the hood. “My duty requires a certain level of anonymity. You’ll see soon enough.”

Dimm ended the conversation and turned onto a nearby path. The siblings followed her lead for a short moment until they arrived at a wide platform that housed a stage with a large crowd before it. The stage Dimm stood on let her tower over the hundred or so necrosists in attendance. She allowed the siblings to join the crowd at its front and gave a single loud clap to silence the chatter in the immediate area. 

She cleared her throat and began her speech. “It has dawned on our leaders, the Nine Embers, that the knowledge of an important discipline of necromancy has faded from the mind of our younger generations. As a veteran practitioner of the nesia discipline, they asked me to teach of what it is, and to give a small show of its practical application.” 

Dimm opened her hand and with it, a large, leather-bound tome appeared in her hand. “Now this book is only a mental recreation, but such blank passages are the foundation of my necromancy. You can't cast a nesia spell without one. Nesia is a focus on Nobody’s most forgotten domain- secrets. With my dedication, I am able to recover the secrets of your past, or even make secret that which you would rather forget.”

She pulled out a quill and scribbled down on the first page as she spoke. “Of course, those are only the basics. With applications like blocking trauma, sharing lived experiences to another person, or even the creation of artificial memories, nesia is one of the biggest medical discoveries Necrosists have made since our inception.”

Dimm lifts the tip of her pen and looks out into the crowd. “But, I did not stand on this stage to just talk about my life’s work. I want to show it to you.” 

She points the feather-end of her quill out towards her audience. “I will need a volunteer. One of you, any of you, who would wish to remember or forget something, please raise your hand now.”

The crowd at large was reluctant to choose to have their mind played with. Before the pause could lurch into an awkward stretch of time, a single woman threw up her hand and shouted. “I’ll do it!”

Dimm bowed her head. “I'm glad to see not all the fresh blood have cold feet. Please, join me.”

She gestured to the stage and the volunteer slipped through the crowd and hopped up the cobble steps to join Dimm. 

Her neatly brushed locks of hair hung at either side of her shoulders like a curtain. They were dyed blue, like the flames that spun above them all. Her skin had the soft shade of sculpted clay. When she turned to face the crowd her green eyes greeted them excitedly along with a sharp nose and thin smile. Dimm lowered her book and gestured with one hand to the woman. “May I ask for a small introduction?”

The young necromancer nodded. “My name is Ramona Leonhart, it's nice to see all the cowards from up here.”

Ramona covered her mouth to giggle at her own jab while Dimm cleared her throat with an amused smile that she hid behind her shadow-veil. “You should be careful if you want to make friends tonight- but that’s not why I asked you up here. Is there something, in particular, you’re hoping to achieve? The effect will only last for the night, mind you. I’d need a real book for something permanent.”

Dimm’s volunteer gave a long ‘hmm’ in thought to the question. “My brother’s been digging into me since we got here about where I hid his ‘good luck charm’ the other day. To teach him a little patience, I want to forget it. That way he can drop it until the morning.”

Dimm stared at Ramona for a moment. “...Interesting. I have to applaud your dedication if nothing else. Very well. Stand before me and allow just a few moments so I can prepare the memory for extraction.”

She turned to face Ramona and opened up her book to write down the target of the spell. Once finished, she set the quill in the fold of the book and planted her thumb at the apex of Ramona’s forehead. An ink-mark smeared onto the spot as she gripped the side of Ramona’s head with her other four fingers. At a whisper that only the two of them could hear she enacted the incantation. “What you lack it will keep and what you give I shall plunge it deep. Forget what you know and know only bliss.”

As the last word fell from her lips the sound from the room was sucked away- a magical silence hung over the crowd until Ramona shattered it with a gasp. Her eyes fluttered and she rubbed the base of her neck where a small ache started to leave her. 

Dimm closed the book and hooked it under her arm. “Tell me, do you remember where you stashed your brother’s four-leaf clover?”

Ramona shook her head and felt her lips curl into a smug grin. “It's no clover, it’s a… I can’t think of what it is. Even though I remember my brother having it time and time again, where it is now or what it looks like is just gone. Like a fog is holding it back.”

Dimm muttered to her. “Thanks for your cooperation, Ms. Leonhart. You can rejoin the audience now.”

As her assistant moved down the steps Dimm regained the audience's attention with another loud clap. “I hope that demonstration showed even just a fraction of the possibility one can achieve with nesia necromancy. If you’re ever looking to specialize, me and others trained for nesia often masquerade as local librarians.”

Dimm made a single step towards the stairs, then paused to give a final word on the matter. “Oh, one more thing. There is another reason I was asked to teach you this discipline. The Nine Embers wish for me to remind everyone of the gravity of treason within our sect. If anyone is found guilty of cooperating with Mystryal to threaten the safety we’ve maintained for over a thousand years, it is a librarian’s job to deal with their transgression. Do not force me to dispose of every memory that makes you who you are.”

The soft muttering of the crowd fell as dead as the earlier silence that was cast on them. Dimm left the stage and platform without another word. As peacefully as she arrived, she was gone with the graveyard of the living in her wake.

Then the discussions began anew, now with greater fervor. They slowly dispersed in groups as they gossiped and debated about all they had learned. The three siblings still stood there, half-expectant for Dimm to come back and explain more. The only greeting they got was from behind them. It was a commanding and playful tone. “I’ve never seen a presenter get that reaction from a crowd.”

A young man barked another remark as he walked up between them. “I saw you three were trailing along that spooky woman when she arrived. What’s her deal?”

Eduardo turned to the sudden intrusion to see a man in his mid-twenties with a rather energetic expression. He bared a striking resemblance to the volunteer, save for his jaw and shaggy brown hair that stopped just below his ears. Eduardo shot him a stare and spoke up. “You... want to introduce yourself before asking questions?”

A hand from behind the stranger hooked into the hood of his shirt and yanked him back. A soft and deep voice cut into the conversation. “Olegario, you haven’t spent over two decades walking the face of Talouw just to throw your manners out the window every time you meet someone new.”

The woman who pulled him back was Ramona. As the two stood next to each other their blood relation became apparent. Once Olegario stumbled back to her side Ramona sighed. “I’m sorry about that. Olegario is simply eager to make friends, he means no offense, right?”

His sister nudged him in the shoulder and Olgeario winced with an annoyed look in his eyes. “Yeah yeah. I guess I did drop in uninvited. You three just looked a little shell shocked.”

Reneta and Eduardo relaxed, but Invex peered to study the honesty of their words. Reneta took a step forward. “So you’re Ramona’s brother, then? The one she mentioned on stage.”

Olegario nods. “No prize for figuring it out, but yeah, we’re twins. This is my sister. You ah, already got my name.”

Ramona didn’t waste a second as she chimed in. “Older sister.”

Her brother’s brows twitched as he turns to her. “By an hour, Ramona. When will you stop bringing that up to everyone we meet!?”

Ramona and Reneta shared a short fit of laughter. Ramona prodded him further. “When you stop reacting the same way every time.”

After a short pause where Olegario could think of no snappy comeback he made a quick turn and faced the three siblings again. “-Anyways, forget what I asked about the librarian. You all have to be new, right? You have the same look we did a few years back.”

Eduardo took a quick moment to introduce him and his siblings to them before he answered their question. “We haven’t even graduated for longer than a week. We just happened to run into that woman right before she came here to hold her lecture. If I had known what she had to teach, I don't think we would have stayed for those parting words…”

Olegario rolled his eyes while he chided the reaction. “I get her tone was grave, but you have to think about what she’s protecting. I’m only disappointed no actual harm falls on traitors. There’s no retribution for their crimes, just cleaning up the mess.”

That blunt honesty shut Eduardo up, if only because he didn’t know how to respond. Invex, silent until now, butted in with an impatience to her voice. “Is there a point to this?”

Ramona’s eyes darted to Invex and her furrowed-gaze matched Invex’s in annoyance. Before Ramona could escalate Olegario was quick to mend bridges. “Oh, right. Like I was saying, we’ve been where you are. Ramona and I were so overwhelmed when our old teacher set us loose that we spent half the night getting lost. I wanted to offer us up as a guide, I guess?”

Invex asked her siblings on the matter with a wordless gaze. Reneta was the first to reason in favor. “It's not like we have a plan. I don’t want my memories of this magic night to be all lost in crowds and corridors.”

Eduardo nodded along and added. “Plus it could keep us from more grave lectures so we can actually have some fun.”

Invex held onto her silence for a moment longer before she relented with an exhale. “Alright, I don’t see a point in being fussy about it.”

She gestured to the twins and tossed the conversation to them with a question. “What’s your plan then? What’s something every newcomer has to see?”

Ramona and Olegario looked at each other and smiled in appreciation that their minds both went to the same idea. “Oh-” Ramona started. “-I can think of one in particular. Do you know about the wishing well?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until the end. This story has meant a lot to me, and Im so incredibly happy to be working on it again. I plan now to release chapters on a monthly basis, to give me time to make them truly special and meaningful to the story.
> 
> I wanted to take this time to announce that Project Inferno will be making the move to its own independent site where the story will be hosted! I want to make a professional website, so this move may take some time, but in the following months expect this story to be phased out of AO3. As stated before, this story will always be available freely.
> 
> If you want to be kept up to date about the state of this story, the website, or in general what's going on with me, check out my social media! I'm open to questions about the story or the world of Talouw and will answer them if they won't spoil anything in the main plot.
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoopZLoop  
> Tumblr: https://loopzloop.tumblr.com/


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